


Someday

by KMO27



Series: What makes a monster and what makes a man? [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety, Asperger Syndrome, Bad Jokes, Depression, Disabled Reader, Discrimination, Domestic Violence, F/M, Female Reader, Gun Violence, LATER, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Past, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Has A Name, Reader Needs a Hug, Self Harm, Sexual Content, Slice of Life, Social Anxiety, broken home, high functioning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-04-06 06:04:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 37,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14050527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KMO27/pseuds/KMO27
Summary: Maggie Murphy is an idealistic, socially awkward, young women attending a college which happens to be in the middle of nowhere. She is no stranger to being a victim of prejudice with her invisible disability. She's fine with that but can't stand when she sees others in a similar dilemma. After helping a monster who was being harassed by some classmates, new opportunities to make friendships and relationships open up. Maggie is both excited and scared of the opportunities to make new connections. Maybe this time her kindness will not be abused...





	1. Got to love those 8 ams

_ Get up! _

 

_ But I don’t wanna _

 

_ Tough luck. Get up. _

 

_ Leave me alone. _

 

_ You have class in ten minutes and it takes five to get ready and five to get there. Get the fuck up! _

 

After having yet another conversation with yourself about whether it’s worth getting up for another day of crippling loneliness or social anxiety, you roll out of bed and start getting ready. You look in the mirror and cringe. Your obnoxiously, curly brown hair is a rats nest with no way of fixing it….again. You quickly tie back your mane into a poofy bun and brush your teeth.

 

_ Why do we even need Bio? I don’t care to watch a plant make oxygen again for another fifty minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. _

 

You spit, popped in your morning meds, swallowed, then swung your backpack over your shoulder and started to sprint. You didn’t have time to change out of your pajamas and was glad you were where a bra under your t-shirt and had on sweatpants. You flew across campus with an occasional “‘Cuse me” as you bumped into people. You looked down at your watch for the time...SHIT! I have two min-

You smacked right into someone and sprawled on the ground.

 

“I’m so sorry! I-” you stared at the people you ran into, well, monster. It was a skeleton in a blue hoodie and basketball shorts...

 

_ Hey, I like basketball. It’s so much fun- _

 

_ NOT NOW. _

 

“S-Sorry!” you ran before you got distracted again. Your ADD was as bad as that dog from Pixar’s “Up”....and yes, you’ve literally had a ‘squirral’ moment before...but that’s another story for a better time! Right now. You’re late to class.

 

“Have a  **run** derful day,” you heard him call out. Wait- a pun? That made you think about one of your exes. He loved puns…

 

_ Oh my God, Maggie! FOCUS! Christ, you're not even in class yet. _

 

_ I’m sorry! _

 

 

You sprinted up the stairs and towards the lecture hall, your heart drumming in your ears and chest heaving. You made it to the class a minute late.

 

_ Maybe I can sneak- _

 

“Ms. Murphy. You’re tarty,” clipped the professor’s voice.

 

_ Ass. _

 

“Yes, sir,” you hid your face with embarrassment as you headed up to sit by your friend, Jay.

 

“Hey, what up?”

 

You shrugged, “Nothing new.” You saw another student walk in a few minutes after you and the professor said nothing.

 

“Didn’t he give you a tarty?” Jay asked.

 

You ground your teeth, “Yes.”

 

“Dude, why don’t you report him?”

 

“I don’t got enough proof. Plus, they never believed me in the past.”

 

At the beginning of the semester, you had handed out forms of accommodation from the Disabilities office to each of your professors. All of them were fine with it except this motherfucker. You wanted to report him, but one: without physical evidence, nothing will be done and two: it was his first-semester teaching and you didn’t want the guy to get fired. You’d like to think you were a good person. But then there were days like these, where you didn’t want to be a good person and instead wanted to rub your muddy sneakers in his smug, dumbass face.

 

“Hey, how are you and Ally?” you asked hoping to change the subject.

 

The class was pretty big for a small school, so most of the time Jay and you chatted in the back like most people. The professor wasn’t good at the whole teaching thing, so you didn't even learn anything even if you were paying attention.

 

“She’s good. Our anniversary is today and I’m planning to make a surprise dinner.”

 

You smirked, “Oooooh, look at you, lover boy.”

 

He smiled, “Come on. I love my bae.”

 

“Do you have something to add, Ms. Murphy?” the professor shit face spoke.

 

“Um...no, sir.”

 

“This is not high school. I will kick students out for misbehaving.”

 

“...yes, sir.”

 

He continued his lecture as Jay and you sat in silence, glaring at him. 

  
  


 

 

 

“He infuriates me!” you yelled, balling your hands into fists.

 

Jay just sighed, “Here we go again..”

 

I started my usual post-biological rant, “I hate him! What did I do???I don’t get it. He doesn’t need to take so much pleasure from my misery. I swear, if I fail that class because of his incompetence and bigotry, you will see me in the news...and not in a good way!!”

 

You continued for another ten minutes as you walked to the dining hall...and you saw some poor kid getting pushed around. It was another skeloten…

 

_ Wait, there’s two on campus? _

 

Monsters have been on the surface for a while now but it was only just recently that they were allowed to receive college degrees and only a few colleges offered it so far. Gotta love politics. You saw a bunch of guys crowded around him. You didn’t really catch most of what they were saying, except for one word: “retard”.

The anger you had felt earlier along with the rage you felt towards that word made something inside you snap. You hated that word. For people with mental disabilities, that word is equivalent to the n-word. You were called that a lot as a kid and you never let anyone get called that.

You don’t usually have the courage to step in during things like this but you were pissed off. Jay noticed you tense and stomp over.

 

“Hey! Mags. Let’s calm do-”

 

“What the HELL are you fuckers doing???” you shouted.

 

The monster’s harassers turned toward you, “This thing tried wanted to be friends with us. We are just giving our answer.”

 

You went nose to nose with the blonde who answered, “Well, you would try working on your people skills. That’s not how you say no, fuck boy.”

 

“Why would I speak to a thing? It’s not even human. It’s a walking corpse.”

 

You lowered your voice. That seems to scare people more than shouting, “Sorry you feel that way, dickweed, but whether you like it or not, monsters are sentient beings. So get to a bridge and GET OVER IT.”

 

He narrowed his eyes, “You must be retarded too, bitch.”

 

You eyes flared and Jay grabbed your arm before it smacked that son of a bitch.

 

“That’s enough,” he said, his voice serious. Jay’s a lot bigger and taller than you so he’s more intimidating if you don’t know him, “Get the hell out of here before a patrol officer comes back.”

 

The blonde rolled his eyes and he and his gang left. You were still pissed. You have a bit of an emotional balance issue. You anger evaporated when you turned to the cowering figure in front of you.

 

“Hey, are you alright?” you squat down and asked as gently as possible.

 

The skeleton looked up and you smiled offering your hand, “Would you like some help up?”

 

He took your hand and stood up. The first thing you notice, he was NOT a kid. He was over seven feet tall. He was wearing an orange sweatshirt and a big red scarf.

 

“THANK YOU, TINY HUMAN, FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE.

”

You didn’t expect his voice to be so loud and you cringed. Your sense of hearing was hypersensitive.

 

“I THOUGHT THOSE HUMANS WERE NICE. THEY WERE LAUGHING AND HAVING FUN AND I JUST WANTED TO SAY HI.”

 

“I’m sorry not all humans are pleasant.”

 

“BUT YOU SEEM NICE, TINY HUMAN. ARE YOU NOT NICE THEN?”

 

You smirked, “That’s debatable. It depends on who you ask.”

 

“WELL I’D LIKE TO JUDGE YOU FOR MYSELF,” he smiled “WHAT IS YOUR NAME, TINY HUMAN AND TINY HUMAN’S FRIEND?”

 

“My name is Maggie.”

 

“Jay.”

 

“I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS,” the skeleton said with pride, “WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME TO GAME NIGHT AS MY NEW FRIENDS AS A THANK YOU. ”

 

You hesitated. Sure it was Friday and you didn’t have to worry about class, but you got nervous in large groups.

 

“H-how many people would be there?” you asked, stuttering.

 

“JUST A FEW OF MY FRIENDS AND BROTHER.”

 

You took in a breath, “Sure, why not.”

 

I mean, Jay will be there too right?...Oh, wait, fuck!

 

“Sorry, I already have plans,” said Jay, “Actually, I have to get ready for tonight.”

 

“Good luck..” you told him as he walked away. Leaving you with a stranger. Yay. It’s not that you didn’t like Papyrus, its that you have never been good at making friends because of your social awkwardness.

 

Papyrus gave you the address and a phone number in case you got lost, then you parted ways. You were prepared to do nothing but read and watch anime all weekend...but now you got plans with some complete strangers. Oh god, what will Mia say?

 

 

 

 

 

“Good going, chica.”

 

“Shut up,” you moaned into your pillow. You never left your room and didn’t talk to people outside of your friend group often. While you have been a riot early that day out of frustration, in truth, you were really shy and weird. Mia was your best friend and roommate, so she made you feel comfortable.

 

“After two years of trying to kick you out of this room, you are doing so to go to a party with a bunch of strange people?? You can be such a doorknob.”

 

“It just a game night type of thing...and I’m not a doorknob,” you whined, rolling over, “Why are you getting all fancy anyway? Is it date night?”

 

Mia twirled in her short black dress and pumps, “You bet, chica.”

 

“You’re going to kill yourself in those heels someday,” you said. You wanted to say she looked good, but she never took the compliment.

 

She smirked, “You will never us Ramirez women in flats. Plus, not all of us are a giraffe like you.”

 

You sat up, “I am not a giraffe. I’m average height. If anything, it’s because you’re a hobbit.”

 

_ Oops. _

 

Mia narrowed her eyes, “Say that again,”

 

She was in denial about her height and You loved to egg her on.

 

You leaned against my bedpost and smiled, “Hobbit, shrimp, tiny, half pint, poor little-”

 

You were smacked in the face with a pillow and fell on your bed, laughing. Even though she won’t admit it, she smiled, “Do you think you are going to go?”

 

You sighed, “I feel like I don’t have a choice. The guy seemed nice and I don’t want to upset him.”

 

“If you are going to go, PLEASE text me if you have trouble. You know Jack and I will drop everything if you needed us.”

 

You smiled, comforted by your friend, “I know.”

 

Mia left about an hour before you did. You decide to change out of your PJs into a sweatshirt dress, leggings, and sneakers. You aren’t comfortable in tight clothes and didn’t think it appropriate for a simple get together. You put on a bit of makeup to make yourself look less dead on the outside. You washed your curly hair so it wasn’t a rags nest anymore but it was still poofy. 

You looked in the mirror and decided you looked passable enough for the public.

 

_ Okay. Okay, Maggie. You can do this. _

 

 


	2. Game Night with strangers...yay!

 

You grabbed your purse, putting your phone, pepper spray, and emergency medication into it, as you walked out of your dorm. The address was one of the apartments that most upperclassmen lived in about a mile off of campus. You’re glad that you wore your sneakers as it’s a bit of a walk and that gave you plenty of time to freak out. 

_ Why am I doing this? _

_ Because you don’t have any friends. _

_ I have friends…. _

_ Besides Mia… _

_ What about Jay and the group? _

_ You hardly talk to them outside of class. _

_ I know. I know. I’m too nervous to ask them to hang out. _

You make your way towards the appropriate apartment number and knocked.

_ This is stupid… _

“TINY HUMAN!!” Papyrus shouted with joy as your ears rang, “I AM SO GLAD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.”

You smiled, “Same. Thanks for inviting me, Papyrus.”

“WELL, COME IN AND I’LL INTRODUCE YOU TO EVERYONE.”

_ Yay. _

 

You walked into the small apartment and saw there were about four other people. Well, technically there were three monsters and a teenager. You stared at one of them with shock.

“You,” you pointed at the shorter skeleton, “I ran into this morning! I’m really sorry about tha-”

He snorted as if there was a joke you weren’t getting,“Jeez kid, you already apologized this morning.”

You feeling your ears heat up in embarrassment, “...sorry!”

“There you go again,” he pointing at you, “no need to say sorry, bud.”

You almost apologized for apologizing again but you just nodded. Suddenly, you were into a headlock by a giant fish lady.

“SO!,” she shouted, “You're the chick that helped Paps over here?”

You blinked, “Uh...yes…”

The fish lady laughed and messed your hair into a frizzy mess. You sighed.

“That’s AWESOME! I thought you’d be more snarky though by the way Paps describe you, but your just a nerd!”

_ Snarky?  _

“Whatever,” she let you go “Any friend of Papyrus is a friend of mine. Name’s Undyne.”

She held out her hand and you took it. Her grip was not too painful.

“Nice to meet you, Undyne. I’m Maggie,” you tried looking her in her eye as you talked. You hated doing that, but your counselor said you need to practice more. You saw that she had red hair tied back in a ponytail and an eye patch over one of her eyes. You also noticed she was very buff. 

A small, yellow dinosaur monster came up to you next and introduced herself as Alphys. Apparently, she’s dating Undyne….okay, whatever. LGBT community includes monsters too. What did catch your attention was…

“You like anime??”

You pointed at her Sailor Moon shirt.

Alphys gasps, “Y-you’ve s-seen...Sailor Moon?!”

As you brighten up, you try to keep your inner nerd down, “Well, of course! Come on, its a classic. Gotta love them.”

Her nervous demeanor seemed to dissolve as well, “You’re right! I mean, in the underground, I only saw the older ones that were thrown away at the dump like Fruits Basket and Inuyasha but you guys have so many like…”

She started to list so much anime, some you never even heard of. Still, she never mentions...no, she has to know.

“What about Studio Ghibli films?” you ask when she takes a second to breathe.

The yellow dinosaur raised an eyebrow, “S-studio who?”

You gasped, “You...me….movie night.”

You heard Undyne snicker, “Alright you two, you can nerd out all you want but remember, nerd, this cutie is mine. You got that, punk? DO YOU??”

You laughed nervously as you felted yourself shrinking inwards again.

_ Oh no, I’m acting like a weirdo again. Stupid. _

“S-Sorry, I didn’t meet to-”

They all started laughing and you blushed.

_ Oh no. They’re laughing. Why are they laughing?  _

_ They must think I’m a freak. _

_ I’m a loser...pathetic… _

“Come on, Undyne. Stop teasing the kid,” said the shorter skeleton, “You’re scaring her.”

She huffed, “Fine,” then turned to Papyrus, “Well, are we going to start or not?”

Papyrus stood up and grabbed a game of Apples to Apples, “CERTAINLY! HUMAN, WILL YOU JOIN US?”

Your anxiety was already unstable from a little joke. Even though you loved Apples to Apples, you wanted to play it safe.

_ Coward… _

“Maybe, I’ll wait a round,” you tried to smile. You don’t have much of a poker face.

_ Stupid… _

You sat down on the couch, closed your eyes, and practiced your breathing to calm down when you felt a tap on your shoulder. It was the teen. They looked concern and they began signing.

**Are you okay?**

You smiled. You actually knew sign language because it was easier than talking because of your anxiety sometimes, so you signed back:

**Yeah, I just need a minute.**

They looked skeptical but they were called over soon.

“FRISK! SANS! ARE YOU JOINING?”

The teen, Frisk nods but Sans said he was going to sit this one out. The skeleton sat down next to you on the couch, not saying anything for a bit. You can’t stand uncomfortable silences.

“D-don’t you want to join them?” you mumbled.

“Nah, I’m too lazy right now,” he said. His voice was a smooth baritone, “What about you, pal? You alright?”

“Yes.”

You said it too quickly.

“I only ask because you’ve been scraping up your wrist since you got here,” he said quietly, pointing at your swollen wrist. It was red and puffy from irritation. It’s been a bad nervous habit of yours. Your ears felt warm as you tugged at your sleeves to cover them up. 

_ This guy has a good eye. He doesn’t need to see what else is on my wrists.  _

“Knock Knock.”

You blinked and said weakly, “Um, who’s there?”

“Déja.”

“Déja who?”

“Knock knock.”

You did smile. Knock knock jokes are easy for you to understand but it takes a bit sometimes to make you laugh.

He shrugged, “Hey, not all of them can be winners. Let me try again, okay? Knock Knock.”

You smiled again, “Who’s there?”

“Art”

“...Art who?”

“R2-D2 of course.”

You almost snickered but you held it in.

San sighed “You’re a tough audience ain’t ya? This one 'ot to do the trick: Knock Knock.”

You rolled your eyes. You wouldn’t crack so easily, “Who’s there?”

“I am”

“I am who?”

“You don’t know who you are??”

...and you cracked. You let out a snort and flushed again. You hated your laugh.

“Kid, whatever you do, never hide your laughter. It’s music for the soul.”

You let a smile creep up your face but you looked down at your lap, playing with your sleeves, “I know one...but it’s not very good.”

He gestured a bony hand towards to “Floor is yours.”

_ Stupid… _

“Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?

“Broken pencil..”

“Broken pencil who?”

You were still looking down, “Nothing, it’s pointless.”

_ Worthle- _

Sans barked out a laugh so loud that caused the others to groan. 

“SANS! ARE YOU CORRUPTING OUR NEW FRIEND WITH YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES???”

Sans just shrugged, “Sorry, can’t help it, bro.”

“But it wasn’t that funny…” you mumbled, more to yourself.

“Are you kidding me? That joke never gets old,” his eye lights shined a little brighter which made your cheeks pinked up. You don’t take compliments...or anything well.

_ You’re a mess. _

“YO NERDS!” Undyne shouted, “We've started another game. Care to join, lazy bones??”

San’s eyes narrowed, “You’re on. What’d say, kid?”

You smiled and nodded in agreement. Thanks to his silly jokes, you were able to calm down enough to enjoy yourself for the rest of your night. You lost track of the time and didn’t leave until midnight. You swore at yourself when you saw the clock.

_ Idiot… _

You needed to leave but you didn’t feel safe walking back to your dorm alone.The campus bus had just stopped running for the night. Maybe you could ask one of them for a ride or call a taxi. Maybe Mia was still awake, but she was on a date night. You knew she wouldn’t mind but-

“Hey, kid, want me to walk back with ya?” you hear Sans ask, “It’s pretty late to walk back alone.”

Even though the shorter of the skeletons seemed chill enough, you didn’t really know him.

“U-uh, I’ll be fine. I don’t want to be an inconvenience…” you said not looking him in the eyesockets.

He waved you off and stood up. He was only a few inched shorter than you actually. Maybe it’s because he slouches.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Besides, I wanted to talk to you.”

You felt your stomach drop.

_ Did I do something wrong? _

_ Not that I can remember. _

“You okay?”

You blinked, realizing that you zoned out, “Uh, yeah. Never better.

_ Stupid ADD! _

“Alright then,” he put his phalanges in his jacket’s pockets, “lead the way.”

 


	3. Trying small talk

The streets were very quiet as you two strolled pass the apartment building and the frat houses. Your college was small and was in the middle of nowhere, which you liked. However to get from place to place was a little tricky without the bus because everything was spaced out. There was nothing but woods and farmland between places. 

You looked down and saw you unconsciously were scratching your wrist again. God, you hate uncomfortable silences and it was about a forty minute walk so you had time that needed killing.

“So..you wanted to ask me something?”

“Yep. Wanna thank you for helping my bro earlier. We just transferred to this school after... let's just say, people didn’t like us. Thought we’d try to get away from the city and all that. Paps has such a big heart, he’ll be friends with anyone. Sounds like some folks took advantage of his kind nature this morning.”

You nodded, “I don’t know what was happening. I just stepped in because someone needed to.”

“Sounded like you took it personally from the way Paps described it. It sounded like you were going to throw down with one of the guys,” his smile stretched into a smirk.

You blushed and looked down at your hands, You do that a lot, “I was already upset about something and I don’t like bullies so I lost my temper. That’s all. I’m not an aggressive person.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” he chuckled, “I thought if I said ‘boo’ you’d pass out.”

You laughed weakly.You were fully aware you have the anxiety of a bunny rabbit.

“I know you were nervous tonight, but I would appreciate if you hung out with my bro and the rest again. We’ve had trouble making friends with the humans.”

You could understand that. Even though it been a while since the monsters reached the surface, tensions between the two species have remained high. Humans couldn’t even give equal rights to those of different gender or color, so a different species in the mix was going to take a long time to find an equal footing.

“I’d be more than happy too.Your brother seems really nice. I hope I didn’t come off as aloof to all of you,” you began playing with a ringlet, another nervous habit.

“Nah don’t worry about it,” he gestured at himself, “I mean we got to look strange and a bit jarring at first. I get it.”

You frowned. That never crossed your mind.

“What was that?” he asked.

_ Shit, I said that out loud. Oh well, go with it. _

“I said that never crossed my mind,” you looked down at your hands, “I’m nowhere near popular. I’m a bit of a clust, socially awkward, and kind of a weirdo. I know what its like to feel like you don’t belong so I take friends the way they are. If they accepted me for me, then I give them the same respect back.”

The skeleton furrowed his browbone. For someone made of bones, he was expressive.

“Then why were you so nervous?”

Before you could answer, you stubbed your foot in the uneven sidewalk and smacked onto the ground. Your purse opened up and the articles in it went flying.

_ Of fucking course! _

“Ow..” you groaned and rubbed your elbows and knees that got scrapped. 

“Jeez, kid, I didn’t know you were falling for me.”

You rolled your eyes but smiled and started picking up your things. Sans had already kneeled down to help and grabbed your pill bottle. You froze. He didn’t say anything; just looked at it and handed it back to you. He seemed to get what he was looking for from the bottle. The bottle said:

Buspirone: take nightly and when needed for panic episodes.

_ Shit. _

He didn’t ask more about it, which you were relieved, and instead changed the subject, “So, what are studying?”

You smiled, “Social work.”

“Social work, huh? Is that with social services?” Sans asked, whether, for conversation or interest, you couldn’t tell.

You shrugged, “Not always. They work from nursing homes to school to prisons to natural disasters. Some work as advocates of social justice policies. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some who supported policies for monsters nowadays.”

“Know what you want to do yet?”

For the first time, you looked him in the eye when you answered, you took pride in what you were studying.

“I can’t decide yet. There’s so much I want to do and not enough time.”

His eye lights shined as he laughed, “Sorry, don’t mean to laugh at you. You’re just a very different person when you talk about things you're into like anime with Alphys.”

You think he saw you were shutting down and he raise his hands in defense, “No no no. It’s not a bad thing at all. I like the spark your eyes get.”

You smiled shyly, “S-so what about you?”

“Hm?”

“Your major?”

He looked up at the sky, “Physics.”

“Holy shit, you must be smart,” you blurted out.

He snorted in amusement, “Nah, I’m too lazy to be smart. I used to help Dr. Alphys. Besides, it’s not that hard.”

You turned and poked his chest with every word, “Bull. Shit. That stuff ain’t easy; drove me crazy in high school. All those extra sleepless nights and study hours and for what!? Only to get to the AP exam and know I’m going to fucking fail so I destress by accidentally drawing all over my exam instead of...the.. scrap paper…” 

You realize you went on a confusing tangent.

_ Oh, I remember, I draw cute lil cats all- _

_ Shut Up. Shut up. Shut. up. _

Your ears burned as you turned and started walking at a quicker pace til you heard him say, “Doesn't sounds like that much of a  **cat** astrophie. It’s not for everyone.”

You smiled at the pun and sighed, “I thought out loud again, didn’t I?

_ Freak.  _

You ignored your inner thoughts.

“It’s okay, kid. It happens to the best of us.”

The wind blew your hair into your face and you tucked the strands behind your ears, “You said you used to work with ‘Dr.’ Alphys?”

He nodded, “Believe it or not, I can be professional sometimes.”

You snorted, “That’s not what I was going to ask. It sounds both you and Alphys, or at least her, have some kind of doctorate degree. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you attending an undergrad school and all at the same little school?”

“Simple,” he stated, “Any degrees or certifications for the underground aren’t recognized by the human government, so we all have to start all over again.”

You whirled towards him and shouted, “Are you fucking kidding me?!”

He shrugged and continued, “While charity and scholarship programs have been generous since monsters are considered a ‘minority’ up here, there aren’t that many schools open to us lot. This one may not have the greatest programs in the nation but there are so many that each of us could get a degree in our interest.”

You nodded, understanding what he meant, “That doesn’t make the situation fair.”

“Life ain’t fair.”

You walked to silence till you made it to your dorm. Thankfully, it didn’t too long.

“Well, this is my stop,” you turned, looking down at your feet, “Thanks for making sure I got back safe.”

“Anytime,” he turned and waved goodbye, “See ya later, kid.”

You started to unlock the door when you wanted to ask if he wanted you to call a cab for him. However, when you looked up, he was already gone.

 


	4. Fresh start; don't mess it up!

You almost forgot to take your medicine and didn’t even change out of your clothes as you flopped yourself onto your bed and presumed to bury yourself under fuzzy blankets and fluffy pillows like a bear in hibernation. You could’ve stayed there all day long if Mia didn’t wake you up as the door slammed open.

“MAGGIE! UP!”

You groaned.

“Maggie, it’s already noon,” as she yanked your covers off your sprawled out form. A dangerous move.

“Mia! Leave me aloooooooooooooooone,” you muffled into your pillow.

“Don’t make me tickle you.”

_ She’s bluffing. _

Turns out she wasn’t as your best friend tackled you. With anyone else, you would’ve freaked out, but you’d known Mia since you were kids.

You burst out laughing as your body spazzed out, “Ok, ok, OK! You win. OFF!”

She stood up, victorious.

“Jerk,” you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes.

“Yeah, but you’ll thank me later,” your roommate shook you again, “Come on, Chica. Food!”

“Fine,” you mumbled, “as long as I get some coffee.”

  
  


Your school had a shit dining hall but the brunch wasn’t half bad. It was routine now for your roommate and you to go there during the weekends. You grabbed yourself a coffee and some eggs and bacon, then sat down with Mia, who was wolfing down her pancakes.

“Did you all not eat last night. Jesus, Mia! You’re spitting food everywhere!” You wiped off bits of pancake from your side of the table. 

“Sorry,” she said with her mouth full, “Not all of us were raised as a prissy lady.”

You rolled your eyes, “There is a line between ‘prissy lady’ and a ‘sloggering pig’!”

Mia stuck out her tongue, “Shut up, bitch! Anyway, how was game night?”

“It was good.”

She raised her eyebrow, “Aaaand?”

You sighed, “They were all very colorful...uh, I don’t know if ‘people’ is the right word…”

Mia stopped chewing, “Wait, they’re monsters.”

You shook your head.

She shrugged and went back to eating, “I don’t know what’s PC in this punk ass world.”

You snorted, “I think you’d like Undyne and Alphys. Undyne is tough like you and Alphys like anime-”

Before you could finish, she let out a girly cry.

“O.M.G. You think she’ll want to join us for anime nights! Do you think she’s seen RWBY?? We totally need to show her that!”

You giggled. Mia was a tough nut but a geek at heart and actually got you into anime.

“Totally, girl,” you continued, “There was also this human name Frisk and there were these two skeleton brothers.”

She gasped, “Wait...like the models in anatomy class??”

You shook your head, “No, they weren’t as frail and had too much expression to even look like a human corpse. They even looked different.”

Just then, you got a text.

**Papyrus (1:07 pm):** GREETINGS, TINY HUMAN! I AM GLAD TO HEAR TO GOT HOME SAFELY WITH THE HELP OF MY BROTHER. I AM LEARNING HOW TO MAKE LASAGNA FOR DINNER TONIGHT AND WANTED TO KNOW IF YOU’D BE WILLING TO ASSIST ME.

Right before you answered, Jack, Mia’s boyfriend sat down. Jack sat done and kissed Mia on the check and as usual for you, you acted annoyed.

“Ewwwwwwww. Jack, you’re going to give her cooties.”

Jack just rolled his eyes, “And how are you, Mags?”

You smirked and continued the banter, “Great until I saw some white boy make googly eyes to my best friend,” You flung yourself on Mia, “Back off, she’s mine!”

He gasped, as if insulted, “I would never!”

You rolled your eyes, “Sure thing, pretty boy. Anyways, I’ve got some homework to do.”

Mia frowned, “But its Saturday.”

You raised your phone up, “I may have plans later, so I’m getting it done early.”

She nodded, still looking worried, “Call if you need anything.”

You nodded, then left. It’s not like you hated Jack or anything, but you felt like a third wheel around the two of them lately and didn’t want to be a cock blocker like you used to be before Mia said something. You turned on your phone and replied.

**You (1:13 pm):** Sure, I’d love to help out. 

**Papyrus (1:14 pm):** EXCELLENT, TINY HUMAN. YOU ARE WELCOME TO COME BY WHENEVER YOU ARE READY.

**You (1:14 pm):** I’m going to do some homework first but I can come by around three.

**Papyrus (1:15pm):** TERRIFIC! SEE YOU LATER!

You closed your phone and started to work on your essay due Monday.

  
  


 

You decided to swap out your sweats for a pair of jeans and a worn sweater. Your poofy hair to then tied into a top knot so it won’t get into any food. You headed to the bus stop and sat at the bench. The bus wouldn’t be there for another five minutes so you pull out your earplugs and turn listen to an audiobook. You love books but you have trouble reading for a long time, so you listen to them. Mostly mystery novels.

You had zoned out when you felt someone grab your shoulder. You turn to see the blond kid from yesterday, smirking at you.

“Think you can ignore me, bitch?”

You stare at him confused. It wasn’t a big campus so you were bound to run into him again  “What?”

“Not so tough without your boyfriend,” his grin made you feel uncomfortable. You knew he couldn’t do anything considering it was the middle of the day, but the campus was mostly empty on weekends.

“Shut up,” you mumbled, trying to ignore him by turning up the volume of your phone.

The son of a bitch had the nerve to yang them out, “Hey, I’m talking to you, bitch. You can talk to those freaks but not your own kind.”

_ Ignore. _

“I bet you’re going to see some right now. Aren’t cha?” he continued, “Are you a monster fucker?”

_ IGNORE. _

He gasped in fake disbelief, “You totally are! So tell me, do you like tentacles or do you get off on fucking something that looks like your pet labrador?”

_ Don’t let him get to you! _

“Or maybe necrophilia is more up your alley. I bet you did it with that retarded skeleton yesterday.”

Your eyes flared in anger: not for insulting you, but Papyrus. He was so sweet for anyone to pick on. You turned to man towering over you and hissed, “Fuck off.”

He grabbed you roughly just as the bus pulled up. The bus driver looked at us and gave the blonde a warning look. He let go and you rushed onto the bus and sat down, silently crying. 

_ Weak. _

“Don’t let that jerk get to you,” the old man smiled politely to you, “He just some punk,”

You smiled and nodded, but stay silent as your road to the skeleton bros’ apartment.

 


	5. Noodles and freak outs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *warning: minor panic attack

When you got to the apartment, the kitchen was stacked with noodles and cheeses. Papyrus had already preheated the oven and boiling the water.

Your eyes widen, “Good God, Papyrus, how much lasagna are we making?”

“AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, TINY HUMAN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS A EXPERT CHEF AT SPAGHETTI BUT FRISK TOLD ME THERE WERE OTHER TYPES OF NOODLE BASED DISHES THAT I MUST TRY INCLUDING THIS LAGASANA.”

You smiled and rolled up your sleeves: just enough so the sauce wouldn’t get all over it but your scars were hidden. There was no need to worry your new friend.

“Alright, let’s get to work.”

 

 

Somehow you two had made five lasagnas and managed to destroy the kitchen. It was covered in sauce and bits of cheese. Still, the two of you have fun cleaning it up, even though you still looked like a disaster.

“SANS WON’T BE HOME FOR ANOTHER HOUR,” Papyrus stated, “HOW ABOUT WE WATCH A MOVIE?”

“Sure, what do you got?”

Papyrus excited pulled out his collection of Mettaton movies. They all looked like movies you were aware of but replaces with a robot. You let Papyrus pick it out, saying he would know which ones were best. The movie was only okay, but Papyrus seemed to enjoy it so you were happy.

An hour in, you heard the door open and saw an exhausted Sans walk in.

“BROTHER!”

The older skeleton flogged down on the couch next to you making you blush. You tended to have a personal bubble issue.

“What’s up, bro?”

“SANS, THE TINY HUMAN AND I HAVE PREPARED A WONDERFUL DINNER. NOW, THAT YOU’RE HERE, WE CAN FINALLY EAT,” Papyrus went to set the table.

You leaned over to Sans, rather worried, “Hey, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

_ Shoot. Too blunt. _

He eyed you for a minute before reached out and brushed bits of cheese off your shoulder.

“Sorry, I  **swiss** you didn’t either but your face is covered in tomato sauce, pal.”

Your face went red as you frantically tried to wipe away the remains of dried sauce.

“That was terrible,” you glared at him in embarrassment.

“What can I say? Bad puns are how  **eye** roll,” he winked.

_ Wait, what? _

“How did you do that?” you pointed at his eye socket.

He smirked and waggled his fingers “Magic.”

You sighed, “I should have known.”

“BROTHER! TINY HUMAN! YOU’D BETTER HURRY BEFORE THE FOOD GETS COLD.”

You all sat down at the brothers’ small table with three humungous plates of lasagna. There was no way you would be able to eat it all.

“Do you too pray before eating?” you asked.

Sans shook his skull, “No, monsters aren’t really religious like you humans. Would you like to?”

“We don’t need to. I try to be religious, even if the church doesn’t like me,” you muttered to yourself.

“WHY WOULDN’T PEOPLE LIKE YOU? YOU ARE SO NICE.”

“Uh…”

_because of hypocritical bullshit. Now._ Shut _ up. _

You stuff a gigantic fork full of noodles and meat into your mouth, hoping they’d drop the topic, “Mmmh. Papyrus, this is great!”

Papyrus seemed very pleased with both of your creation, but Sans doesn’t look fooled.

_ Damn, why’d he have to be so perceptive? He shouldn’t have a reason to be suspicious. I’ve been so good at hiding it… _

“TINY HUMAN! IS EVERYTHING OKAY?”

_ Oops. _

_ “ _ Yep. Sorry, I just zoned out,” you ate another scoop of food and looked and saw Papyrus was already done. You started choking, “Holy Shhh…” you stopped your swear when Sans’s foot hit your. It hurt, but you preferred that then a look that would have gone out your head. You flushed and went back to eating.

“SANS, HOW WAS TUTORING?” his younger brother asked.

Sans shrugged, lazily, “The usual.”

You raised your eyebrows, “You tutor?”

“Yeah, math and science,” he eyed you suspicious, “Why? You need help.”

Your wrist itched and you kept quiet.

_ He’s mostly so busy with others. You don’t need to add more to his plate. _

He nudged you, “Come on, kiddo. Let’s hear it.

“YES,” Papyrus intervened, “MY BROTHER IS SUPER SMART. HE CAN HELP YOU.”

You saw Sans’s grin widen at his brother’s words and nodded.

“Okay. I’m failing my biology class. I’m sorry but the professor can’t teach.”

“Dr. Hans, right?”

You looked up, “Guessing I’m not alone in my judgment?”

“Just because he’s got a doctorate don’t mean he’s a god of his field,” Sans nodded.

You giggled because that’s exactly what your teacher thought he was.

“You free Thursdays?” he asked. You nodded. “Give me your number and I’ll fit you in.”

You smiled gratefully, “Thank you,” and then thought, “Oh! How much? I’m assuming this is your job.”

Sans waved you off, “No charge for friends.”

You look puzzled, you’d only known the brothers for two days. You also felt your walls rising; saying that you had a trust problem would be an understatement.

Sans must have sensed your tension because he ruffled your hair and patted your shoulder, “You worry too much, kid,” he joked.

You chuckled, “That’s was my mom says.”

 

You helped Papyrus with the dishes and clean off the table. You started talking to Papyrus.

“You’re a really good cook. Have you thought about culinary school?”

The taller skeleton for once looked embarrassed, “WEL...UM, THERE IS NO CULINARY SCHOOL THUS FAR THAT HAS BEEN OPENED TO MONSTERS..” he shifted moods at once, “BUT FRISK WILL BE SURE FIX THAT. THEY’RE THE AMBASSADOR AFTER ALL.

“Frisk? You mean that kid from yesterday???” you looked shocked.

“YES, THE HUMAN FREED US FOR THE UNDERGROUND AND NOW ARE TRYING TO GET EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL MONSTERS.”

You frowned, “That’s a lot for a kid to handle. Are they going to be okay?”

“Kid’s fine,” Sans as leaning against the fridge, “They’re being taken care of by the former queen. You should meet her sometime.”

You nobbed then turned back to Paps, “But wait...if your not taking cooking classes, what are you studying, Papyrus?”

He rinsed off the plates then turned proudly, “I AM LEARNING THEATER SO I CAN BE AS GOOD AS METTATON SOMEDAY!”

“Mettaton? Wait, the robot from the movies?” you scratch your head. 

“ISN’T HE AMAZING??”

You didn’t want to crush poor Papryus’s heart so you just smiled and said, “Yep.”

You looked out the window and realized it was already dark and nearly dropped the glass you were holding, “Shoot it’s getting late.”

You looked at your phone and saw it was almost ten. You most likely just missed the last bus of the night.

_ Shit not again. _

“Like me to walk with ya again?” Sans asked.

“I don’t want to be a bother..” you scratched your wrist.

He just laughed and patted your head like a kid, which he still insists on calling you, and you puff out your cheeks in annoyance, “Fine, you can if you want,” you headed to the door with Sans on your tail. “Take care, Papyrus,” you called out as you left.

 

 

It was early October and it was starting to get colder and very windy. A chill ran through you as the wind blew right through your sweater and you shivered. Sans must have noticed as he shrugged off his blue jacket before passing it to you.

“No, no nono,” you said  a little too quickly, “You’ll catch a cold.”

“Monsters don’t feel tempature change as drastically. Besides,” he smiled, "It doesn't matter if the wind goes   **through me.** ” 

You groaned, but took the jacket with a thanks. It looked worn and old but was surprisingly comfortable if not oversized on you. It smelled like books, chalk, and- for some reason- ketchup.

“Come on, kiddo. Don’t want you to get blown away,” he teased.

“I’m coming,” you ran to catch up to him. You just have gone into a daze again, “And I’m not a kid!”

He rolled his eyelights, “You're a kid to me.”’

“But I’m almost twenty!”

“Still a kid.”

You huffed, “What are you then, thirty, forty-

“Try three hundred years.”

Your eyes widen, “Uh…”

_ What the hell? I knew humans and monsters are different but this is some serious shi-. _

He just started rumbling laughter at you. 

You ears burned and you pouted, “What now?”

“Sorry, pal,” he tried talking, “The look ya had. Priceless.”

You shoved him playfully and then heard a base beat. Well, more like felt it.

“Someone’s having a party,” Sans murmured.

You saw lights flashing and silohettes of groups of people moving about. The music was starting to make your ears ring. You clapped your hands over your ears as you walked by, not talking because of the uncomfort. You hated the flashing lights, the mobs of people, and the obnoxious noise. 

“You okay, buddy?” Sans asked.

You nodded but didn’t say anything, all playfulness gone. 

As you passed the house, you were catcalled by some of the boys but ignored them.

“Hey you!” 

You didn’t turn but saw that same god damn blonde from early chasing after you.

“So how was ish???” he slurred, obviously drunk.

_ How long is he going to keep this up?  _

“Hey, I’m talking to you, whore?” the punk continued.

Sans tried to get himself between you and this asshole, clearly ticked off.

“Oh! Shho ya found another for your necrophilia felishh! Guys, check out thish shlut!” his pals found his joke way too funny, even for drunks and were lazily circling the two of you.

In a split second, one of them snatched your hair and dragged you to your knees. You tried to kick and punch, but your resolve to put on a face was cracking. This was all too much. Your sensory sensitivity to everything was nauseating. The noise. The people. The lights. The revolting stench of weed and beer. Now being grabbed...it was just too much. Your knees buckled and you fell onto your side, hyperventilating and blinded by black dots.

They just kept laughing. You don’t even know what you did wrong for this.

“Aww, the poor bitch missed sucking on a human cock. Why not give it to her?” 

You saw Sans step in front of your vision so you couldn’t see his face but you heard his voice lower to a growl.

“P I S S  O F F.”

You saw some of them step back but the blonde shit weesel was either too brave or too stupid to do the same.

“Get lossh, freak! Sshome of ush want a turn.”

You were going to go with stupid.

You heard a snap and a scream as blondie fell to his knees. You were able to see his elbow was not in the angle you don’t think it’s supposed to be in. The remaining boys flee in drunken howls and Sans turns to you. Alarm bells went off.

_ He dangerous. He’s going to hurt you. You need to move. Whyaren’tyoumovinggonowyoudon’t- _

“Hey, hey, it’s just me,” he sounded so calmly, “I need to get you off the sidewalk. Can I touch you?” 

You wouldn’t answer. You knew you couldn’t walk but at the same time, you hated physical contact. Your left leg was asleep from nerves and lack of oxygen.

Slowly, he knelt down in front of you, “I’m not going to hurt you,” and he carefully picked you up bridal style.

You started to panic some more when he began cooing you, rubbing circles on your back. You grabbed the front of his shirt and cried as he carried you away from that neighborhood.

“Breath,” Sans whispered, “One, two, three. One, two three,” he kept repeating. Soon, he found a bench by one of the bus stops and laid you down.You were a lot calmer at this point, enough to feel embarressed. You hated whenever someone saw your panic attacks. They could be pretty scaring for first-timers. Sans seemed knowlegdable of this though, which kind of surprised you.

After a couple of minutes, you sat up. You couldn’t look him in the eye, “Thanks...for getting me out of there,” you said very softly.

Sans just nodded, “You knew that guy?”

You shook your head, “Barely. I called him out for beating on Papyrus and he got pissed. Tried to get under my skin...I shouldn’t have let him.”

“It’s not your fault. Once things like that get physical, ya can throughout being polite,” his face was hard to read and his hands were shoved into his pockets.

You don’t know what to say. He’s taking all of this too well, but then again you two barely knew each other. You don’t know his life.

 

You walked the rest of the way in silence. For once, you were glad; it was better than being slammed with questions. You just stared at your feet while you walked, too ashamed to look up. When you got to your dorm, Sans stopped you.

“You going to be alright? That was kind of intense early.”

You gave him a weak smile, too tired to fake it any more than that, “Yeah, just tired.”

The two of you waved good night. As he turned...something weird happened. One second he was there. The next: gone.

 


	6. A broken Hallelujah

“That concludes this Sunday mass. Remember to keep the families of the victims of the previous shootings in your prayers. May the Lord be will you.”

“And with your Spirit,” replied that mass of people in a monotone voice, indicating they’d said that a million times.

You went to church on Sundays still, even if your faith was a bit of a clusterfuck. The church was far from perfect and the people in it could be some of the biggest hypocrites you'd ever meet. However, moments like this after mass, when the church grew quiet and the candles burned to nubs; there is a quiet hum of faith all around you. You’re drawn to it and use this time for silent prayer. This week you were praying for your new friends that you met, in the hopes of better policies would be put in place let them have more freedoms.You’d always known about the limits, but before meeting Sans and Papyrus, they didn’t mean much.

You also thought of your little sister, a spunky sixteen year old with a major attitude. Still, she was the only one in your family you got along with. Last week, there was a bomb threat at her school and she was too scared to go the next day; not that you blamed her. The school district was poor so it wasn’t a priority to any school board. You started to hum “God help the Outcasts”- prayer can take on many forms.

 

As you left the building, you saw some of the housewives gossiping at the corner. You ignored them, and they glared at you. The thing about small towns is that they like to keep it that way, small. Outsiders aren’t really liked.

You slipped on earplugs, pulled out skype and called your sister. It ringed three times before picking up.

“Maggie, I hate you,” she groaned.

“Morning, sunshine,” you said in a sickly sweet voice.

She flicked you off and you laughed. Lizzy was polar opposites of you. While you were average height and curvy, she had a super model’s tall and skinny body. While your skin was pale and covered with freckles, her’s was caramel and flawless. Even your hair was different; being long and straight compared to your mop of ringlets. If it wasn’t for your dark eyes, you’d swear one of the two of you would have been adopted.

“You’re as bad as mother,” she hissed.

You rolled your eyes, “Please. I’m way less passive aggressive; plus it’s in my job description to annoy you. If I can’t do that, I failed as a big sister. Speaking of, how was your little date with Carter?”

She looked like she was about to throw something, “UUUGH! It was so shitty!”

_Here we go again._

“I mean, not ONLY was he late but he’d have a clue on what to do! Plus, he was, like, ‘so do people do this on dates?’ the entire time,” she rugged her eyes like she had a headache, “Maybe I should just become a lesbian-no WAIT! Girls are too bitchy! Plus our _eternal souls will hurt for allllll timmmme,”_ she mockney mimicked our grandparent’s insane rants.

“You and me both,” you sighed.

“So, what have you been up to?” she asked, “You didn’t call yesterday.”

“Sorry, I had plans.”

She raised her eyebrows in shock, “YOU left your room???”

You raise your hand for theatrics, “Why is everyone so surprised?”

“‘Cus you never do anything.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a loner. So what?” you glared.

“Nothing,” she sighed, “Did you at least make any friends?”

You told her about the group of monsters you met at game night and the lasagna dinner at the brother’s apartment. You didn’t mention the blonde or episode all at though.

“OH! So your schools allowing monsters now! Awesome! Are they scary? Do they sleep in coffins and eat brains?”

Shows how much people actually know about monsters. Lizzy wasn’t being rude, she’s just curious.

“They’re not scary; more eccentric. I have no idea what they sleep in but they’re monsters- not vampires. And I don’t know about brains but one of them loves spaghetti.”

“I feel, dude,” she said.

You heard someone talking in the background. Liz turned to talk to someone off camera.

“Mom says hi.”

Your smile faded, “Ah, I see. Well, I’ve got to go,” you said before Mom wanted to talk, “See ya, Lizzy.”

 

 

You had just made it to your dorm room and decided a shower was in order. You stripped out off your clothes and let the hot water soothe your aching muscles. Your legs were sore from all the walking this weekend. You used this time to think.

_She’s just gonna call later._

_But then we’ll fight again._

Your mother and you weren’t on speaking terms as of late. You’d gotten into argument about Lizzy’s schooling. You’ve been trying to convince her to let her transfer to a center school for math. Lizzy hated her school and never felt safe there. Plus, there was some terrible drama last year. Mom stated that they couldn’t afford to send her anywhere, blaming it on your medication and doctors appointments. That spiraled into another argument about finances which led to frustration at your disabilities. You mother had chosen choice words about how much she hated having to pay extra for a special needs kid and some other stuff. It had gotten bad during the summer. You actually stayed at Mia’s, who lived near by, for part of the time. You didn’t know what to do anymore. You already worked two jobs at home along with odd jobs in terms of finances. You take the meds. You go to counsling. You try everything but she’s never happy. Your father’s a dead beat who didn’t want to raise a “broken kid” during the tough years growing up, so he’s no help.

You sighed.

_Theres no point thinking about it._

You turned off the water and opened the curtain, letting the brisk air hit you. Mia didn’t come to the room till late on Sundays so you turned on your music as you got changed. Penetoxic came on and you sang along to one of your favorite songs.

 _“_ _Taste the pain right on my tongue. Novocaine to make me numb. Don't you worry 'cause the night is young. Dance until the morning sun. Morning sun. Morning sun…”_

You let the towel fall as your hips sway.

_“ I don't mean to point the blame, But baby you hurt me to my very core…”_

You pulled on an oversized t-shirt and riggled into some jeans. You continued to sway as you brushed your hair. It always hurt like a bitch. Anyone with straight hair will never understand.

_“You don't know why. You don't know how. You don't know when to love again. You let me in then shut me out. You'll have to learn to love again…”_

If Mia was here, you wouldn’t have, but you started dancing and singing loader.

_“Take me away from here.To a place where my feelings don't go to waste. We're in the atmosphere. Flying high above the stars that shone on his face...”_

You had never been much of a dancer, but you loved the feeling you got from it. You wish you could sing like this group but the idea of you even going on stage. Priceless.

_“You don't know why. You don't know how. You don't know when to love again. You let me in then shut me out. You'll have to learn to love again…”_

The song changed to one of their covers that you loved. It was much slower.

_“ I heard there was a secret chord That David played and it pleased the Lord But you don't really care for music, do you?”_

You started humming the harmony softly.

_“ Well, it goes like this: The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift. The baffled king composing Hallelujah…”_

_“ Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah…”_ you sang.

You thought it was strange. All the latin chiors and christian rock couldn’t hit you as hard as this silly pop song that was in God damn “Shrek”.

_“She tied you to her kitchen chair. She broke your throne and she cut your hair. And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah…”_

Your voice started to rised to the comfortable octave of a soprano as the female of the group sang:

_“Baby, I've been here before. I've seen this room and I've walked this floor. I used to live alone before I knew ya. And I've seen your flag on the marble arch. And love is not a victory march. It's a cold and it's a broke Hallelujah…”_

You practiced the use of credendo and sudito at the chorus till you hit your favorite part of the song:

_“Maybe there's a God above. But all I've ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya. And it's not a cry that you hear at night. It's not somebody who's seen the light. It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah!”_

_Damn, does Mitch have a voice?_

You got lost in the groups rendition of the final “Hallelujah”s, and didn’t notice Jack and Mia walking in. The moment you saw them, you froze and clamped your mouth shut. Jack had his eye brows raised and Mia had a shit eating grin on her face.

“I told you she could sing!” she yelled.

Your ears and face were on fire, “C-Come on, Mia, anyone can sing that song?”

“Bullshit,” she huffed.

“Mags, why have you never tried out for our acapella groups?” Jack was a member of one of them, “Seriously?”

“Hello?” You raised your hands to gesture an obvious statement, “Anxiety is also stage fright. Besides, I’m not good as pop or rock or..”

“Don’t let that stop you!” Jack sat on Mia’s bed, “Just wait till next semester. I’m going to leave flyers all over this God damn room until you have no choice but to try.”

You smiled weakly, “A-Anyways, what are you two up to?”

“Gonna go to the library to study,” Mia replying, picking up her backpack, “Just grabbing some things. Wanna come?”

You smirked, “Dude, the library is packed and noisy on Sundays. I won’t get anything done there.”

She shrugged, “Suite yourself. You better join us for dinner though.”

“Alright.”

“Later,” the two lovers left.

 

 

While finishing up the rest of your homework, your phone started spamming out of whack. You looked and saw you’d been added to a group chat.

 **Unknown:** Hey NNERD! It’s Undyne. Thought I’d add ya to the group text since you seem cool.

**(add number *Undyne)**

**Undyne:** But your still a NERD!

 **Undyne** : HEY!

 **Unknown** : Undyne. They must be doing homework. It is sunday

 **Unknown** : Oh this is Alphys

**(add number *Alphys)**

**Undyne** : True but IM BORED!!!

 **Undyne** : NOTICE ME HUMAN!!

You snickered.

 **You** : Hey, guys. How’d you get my number?

 **Papyrus** : THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAVE YOUR NUMBER TO EVERYONE!

 **Sans** : Yep.

 **Undyne:** NERD! Lets do something! Im bored

 **You:** Don’t you have hw?

 **Undyne:** I’m in PHED. Its soooooo easy!

You had a problem saying no…

 **You:** Finnne. Just give me a minute.

 **Undyne:** AWESOME! Don’t worry it won’t hurt too much

 **You:**...wait what?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Love again" (c) Pentatonix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F80FsZDTgn0  
> "Hallelujah" (c) Jeff Buckley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRP8d7hhpoQ (cover by PTX)


	7. Do you trust me?

Over the next few of weeks, you were getting to know the gang better little by little. Undyne, for example, loved to train with you- and by training, she means to wake your lazy ass up at 5 am to do intense workouts at the gym. You still couldn’t walk actually; it was more of a waddle for now. She was just as wild at anime nights with Alphys, who introduced you to “Mew Mew Kissy Cutie”. It was adorable. You got along with to two girls very much and was excited to introduce them to Mia soon, as she’d been wanting to meet your new friends. You were able to nerd out in front of them and not feel ashamed of it. 

You got along with the brothers as well. While your relationship with the girls was exciting and fun, it also took a lot of energy out of you. At the brother’s, you always felt relaxed as they were so easy to talk to. Papyrus was quite eccentric like Undyne for sure, but he also took pleasure in the simple things like sewing and knitting as well as his puzzles. He gave you a Rubiks cube that you had been working on all week. If it wasn’t for his constant encouragement, you’d given up long ago.

Sans was also easy to talk to. You had a respect for him ever since he walked you home that night. While you barely saw what happened to the punk, you had learned that he is very capable of being a pretty scary guy if he wanted to. At first, you were nervous to be around him; however, you figured out quite quickly that he’s the type of person who is capable of doing harm but chooses not to. You two hang out on campus after class sometimes, and no matter the remark and stones thrown at him, he never reacted. He says he’s too lazy to do anything, but you think there’s something else going on. Either way, it is very obvious, he likes to be his laid back self over a short-tempered persona. Whenever you two hung out, he always made sure you were relaxed. Sans made you feel so comfortable, that you were considered letting down your walls to him from time to time...but you couldn’t.

Your trust issues were extensive. There were only two people you actually talked to about real life problems and that was Lizzy and Mia. You’d known them both since childhood when you used to extend trust, and they were the only ones who never broke it. To anyone else, you kept them always at arm's length; both physically and emotionally. You blamed bad parenting and several amounts of bullying for that...actually there was one other person you could talk to. Your counselor, who you were seeing at the moment.

Dr. Gail had been very patient in getting to know you. You went to her at first as a kid and had developed a relationship with you over the years throughout childhood, awkward teen years, and into adulthood. When you went to college, you refused to see any of the school’s psychologists. Therefore, Dr. Gail and you set up a time to skype your appointments while you were at school. You had reserved a study room in the library for the sake of privacy. 

You had just gotten over discussing your new friends, the incident with the blonde, and how you felt about Sans. She already knew your position on trust, so she knew where this was going.

“It seems that these new friends of your have been a good influence on you. You seem happier in comparison to our last session.”

You let your mouth quirk into a smile, “I guess you’re right. I didn’t really think about it as of late.”

“I was worried how your isolation was affecting your depression this semester. This is the first time you haven’t cried in a while.”

_ True   _

“Anyways, about Sans. I think you should take this an opportunity to open up. It’s been such a long time since you felt this way about a person.”

“Don’t say it like that. He’s just a friend,” you winced.

She sighed, adjusting her glasses, “It is still a relationship; a platonic one yes, but a relationship neither less.”

You didn’t say anything.

“I’m not asking you to spill your guts at him-”

_ Heh,  guts. _

“-but start off with something small, like tell him about Lizzy. You said he has a little brother, so he should relate. You don’t talk about her much, but I know how important she is to you.”

You chewed on your bottom lip, “I’ll try that.”

She smiled, “Remember your breathing exercised we worked on earlier. You can tell me how everything goes in our next session.”

You scheduled another appointment and said your farewells. You closed the laptop, slipping it into your backpack and walked out of the room. You were about to leave when you saw a familiar blue jacket in your peripheral vision.

“Hey!”

Sans turned towards you, a little surprised, “Hey. What’s up?”

“Not much. Just studying; was about to leave,” you half lied, “Guessing you just got done with a sess-I meaning a tutoring session.”

_ Smooth. _

“Yeah, I’m done for today,” he put his hands in his pockets, “Wanna grab a bite?”

You winced, “Dining hall?”

“Nah, it’s Friday. You’ve gotta treat yourself sometimes.”

You sighed in relief, “Oh good! I’ll take any chance to get food outside of campus.”

The two of you walked out of the library and you followed Sans, not having a clue where you were going. Still, where ever he was going, it meant food.

He stopped at the edge of the main road, “I don’t feel like walking.”

“You want to take the bus?”

“Nope.

You paused, “Well...sorry but that’s the two choices. I’m not paying for a cab. I’m not made of money.”

The short skeleton turned back to you and held a hand out, “Do you trust me?”

_ Uh...do I? _

You just stand there for a minute. Did you trust him? You didn’t want to lie, so you told the truth.

“More than most,” and you took his hand. He pulled you closer and you stiffened, “Uh…”

He shushed you and whispered, “Close your eyes and hold your breath.”

_ Why is his voice so attractive...wait, What??” _

You did what you were told, ears flushed by your thoughts, then suddenly you were washed over by blistering cold. It was like being shoved into a freezing shower. However as fast as the temperature dropped, it rose again while your stomach fell. Sans held you as you doubled over like he had expected this reaction.

“What the hell, man?” you slurred in your dazed and nauseating state.

“Sorry,” he whispered, “Shortcut.”

_ Yes, that answers everything! And I was thinking about trusting this guy??? _

“Here we are.”

You looked up and saw you weren’t at the street corner but were in front of a small pub of sorts. Your first reaction is to panic.

“Y-you mean to tell me you can teleport?” you stuttered in disbelief.

“Yep.”

_ This dude could teleport anywhere?? Okay, that needs to sink in… _

If you didn’t know Sans by now, you would be scared he’d abuse it for thievery or to peep at girls; but that wasn’t him.

_ Right? _

_ Of course. He’s a decent guy. _

You started to think if other monsters could teleport and if they were all just as good attentive. Was this just a skeleton thing? Could Papyrus do this? Was there a limit in distance? What was the physics behind it? Was that space you just walked through? Could he go places go places he’d never been before?

_ Like my dorm room… _

_ Maggie, no! He’s not like that! He’s done nothing wrong. _

_ But what if- _

_ Oh. my. God. shut. Up.   _

Your train of thought was halted when you saw a bony hand being waved in front of your eyes.

“Attention, space cadet. Please come back to earth.”

You blinked then blushed, “Sorry, I sort of spaced out-wait no!” You raised your hands in defense but Sans was already laughing with glee.

“Hey there, kiddo, I know you didn’t planet so no pressure to continue,” he grinned.

You stomped your foot like a little kid and turned on your heel.

“Ah come on,” he continued to laugh at your reaction, “This place has a great atmosphere.”

You stopped, not at his request but because the smell of food was calling to you, “Fine.”

  
  


You didn’t really get a look at where you were but you presume it was close to the monster ghettoes- most monsters weren’t allowed to live in human majority neighborhoods- due to the population inside. Sure there were a few humans, but most of them were monsters. There were a lot of dog like monsters. Two of them were canoodling at their own table and one of the came up to you, giving a little yip. He was adorable...too cute for words.

“Doggy!” you cried and starting petting the top of his head. You couldn’t help yourself: dogs were your kryptonite. You became a two year old around anything cute too.

Suddenly, his neck elongated and hit the ceiling. You let a cried of terror.

“Oh My God! What have I done!?” you wailed, hands covering your mouth. You turn back to everyone, prepared for them to have murder in their eyes for hurting their friend...but they were laughing hysterically.

“Maggie, you’re a riot today,” Sans chuckled and shook his head, “Lesser Dog, you need to calm back down.”

People groaned like they’ve heard that before too many times. Sans turn back to you, “Relax, kid. Lesser dog’s neck stretches when he gets too excited. He sure loves new people.”

You let out a sigh of relief and clutched your still pounding heart.

_ Da fuck is going on???” _

“Yo, space cadet, over here.”

_ That's going stick, isn’t it? _

You had zoned out again and now saw Sans sitting at the bar, patting the seat next to him. You made your way over to him and sat down. You saw that the bartender was a monster who looked like a man ablaze wearing a dress shirt and glasses. 

“Maggie, this is Grillby, the owner. He’s a man of few words. Grilbz, this is Maggie.”

“Hi,” you stretched out your hand, secretly hoping he didn’t take it; you didn’t want to have to go to the ER. However when he did, your hand never even blistered. Yes, it was warm but not uncomfortably so. 

_ Must be magic again. _

“Grilbz, I’ll have the usual,” Sans turned to you, “What’d you like?”

“Um...whatever's best. You pick,” you replied.

He nodded, “Also the same for the lady. Put it on my tab.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” you had already taken out your debit card, “I’ll pay.”

He raised his brow bone, “No need to do that.”

“Think of it as payment for the tutoring,” you looked at him, “Please, you never let me pay you.”

He sighed and shrugged, “How can I say no when you ask so nicely.”

You have Grillby the card. For some reason, your mind went back to the teleportation incident and then something came to mind…

“You made me walk all that way back for nothing, you asshole!” you slammed your hand down on the table.

Sans looked genuinely startled and confused. You savored the moment because it’s hard to catch him off guard.

“uh...Sorry?”

“You’ve been walking me back to the dorm every night I go to your apartment when you could have easily teleported me? My legs hate you!”

He snorted, “Give them thirty years, you’ll thank me then.”

“But why?”

“Because” he stated simply.

“Because is not an answer,” you were told that all your life.

He sighed and leaned against his palm, elbow on the table, “At first it was to figure you out. I knew you weren’t just a ball of nerves like you were at game night or you wouldn’t have stood up for my brother. I figured one on one was best. To be honest, I was kind of testing you to see if you were safe to be around my bro. No hard feelings or anything, I’m just looking out for him.”

You smiled at that, “Yeah...I’d do the same for my sister.”’

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. You were a very private person.

“Older or younger?”

“Younger. She’s only sixteen.”

His body shifted towards you, “She anything like you?”

You laughed, “We are as similar as night and day. Lizzy loves sports and is a bit of a party girl. She’s more popular than I ever was, especially with the boys. I always had to fight to keep them off her. She can also cook a three course meal while I can burn a boiled egg, believe it or not. We don’t even look the same.”

“Believe me I know how that feels,” his smile was genuine, “How did she react to her big sister being with a bunch of monsters.”

“She thinks it’s cool, or ‘lit’ or whatever the kids are saying now. Ugh, I feel old. Honestly, she was very curouis, but she’s just glad I’m making friends.”

“So she is like you.”

You look down at your hands, “Nah, She’s too cool, like you brother. He reminds me of her a bit. Incredibly kind and awesome, but with less swearing and vulgar humor from his part.”

He chuckled, “Yeah he is, but that’s not what I mean,” he lifted your chin so you were staring into his eye lights, “If you think that highly of her, I have no doubt she’s as sweet as you. You’ve stood up and taken hits for monsters, so don’t sell yourself short, kid.”

You felt your cheeks pink under his stare and your heart was thumping against your rib cage.

_ What’s going on? _

“You all are my friends,” you stated simply, “Of course I’d do those things.”

“Believe me: most won’t for us.”

You furrowed your brows, “I don’t care about us or them. Your my friend first before anything else.”

He let go of your chin, his face a mask. You had no idea how he took your response.

“I’m guessing you still don’t trust me with your brother,” You mumbled, looking down into your lap once again.

“What makes you say that?”

“You still walk me-”

“I said I did that at first,” he interrupted you.

You stared at him, hoping he’d elaborate, “So, why don’t you just teleport us get to the dorm? I mean it’s a really long walk for both of us.”

He shrugged, “Got my reasons,”

You groaned, knowing he liked to be a secretive little fucker sometimes. It annoyed the hell out of you. You rested your head on the cool countertop, thinking.

_ What game is he playing? I hate when he shuts me out. _

_ Pot. Kettle. Black, Maggie. _

A minute later, Grillbzy came back like two plates for burgers and piles of fries. It smelled like heaven. You picked up your burger and took a bite. 

“I died,” you stated, “and gone to heaven.”

You wanted to savor the taste, but were so hungry you wolfed it down. You nearly choked. 

Sans looked amused, “Easy, tiger. It ain’t going anywhere.”

You saw he had grabbed the ketchup bottle and took a swig.

“Ew, Nooo. That’s nasty. Other people wanted to use that, dude,” you wrinkled your nose.

“Grillbz keeps a stock just for me. So no harm.”

You gave him a confused look, then sighed in defeat, “You do you, I guess.”

He toasted to his victory and took another sip, “Wanna beer or something.”

“No, I’m underage.”

“We’re in the monster district. As long as your not wearing a striped shirt like the kids today then your fine.”

You stared at him, “I don’t want to get in trouble when we get back to campus. I’m a lightweight.”

He snorted, “Goody two shoes.”

You flushed but stood your ground, “Yeah and what of it?”

Before he could accept your challenge, there was a high pitch noise from the back of the room. You clamped your hands over your ears. It had been a mic, and a small squid monster was starting to sing. He was so flat and out of tune; he was also sliding so he had to be intoxicated. 

Sans winced, “Yeah, sorry. Jerry loves karaoke night.”

“Please say he’s drunk.”

Sans shook his skull, “Nope, that’s how he always sounds.”

You glared at him, unamused, with your hands still over your ears. Jerry sang for only five minutes, but you thought it would never end. No one clapped as he stopped, only sighed in relief. A bunny went up next and sang a nice blues piece; a blessing after Jerry. You knew the song and hummed to yourself and tapped your foot. Sans seemed to have noticed.

“If you wanna sing, just go up there.”

You shook your head, “No.no.nononono-”

“Stage fright?”

You nodded.

“Alright, I won’t push.”

You sighed in relief and in disappointment at yourself. Sure, you love to sing and you knew you weren’t terrible; but you got so nervous underneath the spotlight. Your palms had gone sweaty at the thought of singing in public.

“Thanks...maybe next time.”

_ That’s what you always say. _

“Do you ever sing?” you tried to turn the focus to him.

“Nah, I’m more of an observer. I love coming on Saturdays because of the small jazz band. Wish I could play like that, but I’m too lazy to learn. You play any instruments?”

“Other than the harmonica in third grade, I never learned. My roommate has tried to teach to the piano but said I sound like music from a cheesy horror movie-” you smiled at that train of thought.

_ Lizzy likes those crappy movies and is always trying to get me to go to them… _

“-but that’s okay!” you chirped, realizing you zoned out mid sentence, “It’s not for….what was I talking about?”

_ Thanks, ADD. _

Sans laughed, amused, “It’s okay, space cadet. You stuck your landing.”

You puffed out your cheeks, annoyed, and he just laughed louder.

“Sorry, I just can’t take you seriously when you look like that, kid.”

“I’m not a kid,” you kicked your legs and whined.

“Are you sure?” he smirked, “You’re sure acting like one. All that’s missing is a striped shirt and little pigtails. Should I get you a sippy cup and cut up your food, kiddo?”

You knew he was just teasing, but for some reason, you wanted him to see you as a woman and not just a lanky ankle biter. You turned to Grillby, “Give me a shot.”

“What happened to ‘I’m underage’?” 

Grillby poured you the glass of liquor and you thrust out your chin in defiance, “Fuck off.”

You took the small glass and gulped it down. It burned and had a foul taste. Sans nearly fell off his stool,laughing at your reaction. Your cheeks were inflamed and you huffed. Frustrated, you took the refilled shot glass and drank it again, trying to keep your face stern. It didn’t work. Your ears had reddened by Sans amused smirk. He looked like you like your was a kid embarrassing yourself in front of your first crush. 

“Shut uup,” you slurred, “Why you you sooo mean ta me?”

_ Shit. This got into your system fast. What the hell did I drink? _

He didn’t say anything, just leaned on his elbow, looking at you with a shit eating smirk.

“I’m nodda kid. I’ma grown ass womann,” you glared at him.

“Uh huh,” he still smiled.

You pouted, “You're like my motherrr...but not …”

You looked at his bony hands and held it. They were smooth like china but showed age and damage caused your hard work. They also had warmth humming through them.

“You twooo annoyee mee soooooo much sometimes...but ya both have the same hands,” you looked up at him and lowered your voice suddenly, “Do you lie about bein' happy tooo?”

His smile stiffened.

“She does. Allll the time. Til one day. Sshe gave up. Now she’s just grumpy grumpy grumpy,” you mumbled.

Sans eyes looked a little sad...til you burst into a giggle fit, “Why sooo serious?”

He turned to Grillby, “You gave her monster whiskey instead of the human whiskey.”

Grillby shrugged, “Human alcohol. Human Law. She’s underage.”

“But monster alcohol is stronger.”

“Blame bureaucrats. Not me.”

Sans frown but smiles at you again as you made a smiley face frown your remain fries.

“Put the drinks on my tab,” then he turned to you “Let’s get you home,” he said, standing up.

“I don’t wannnnnaaa,” you whined.

He stretched out his hand for you to take once you were done whining.

“Fiiiinnnne,” you finally took it and fell over when you stood up. Sans held you up, while your legs remembered how to work. He pulled you in and you closed your eyes and held your breath. Your skin was covered by goosebumps from the cold and sweat from the return of heat.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Everythinng is spinning...weeee,” was your intelligent response.

Sans snorted and took you inside the dorm building. The desk aid gave you a nasty look as you signed in, but you didn’t care. 

“What’s your room number?”

“Uhh..216,” you replied.

Sans nodded and held you upright so you wouldn’t fall again. When you got to your room, Sans knocked on the door, politely. Mia answered it and groaned.

“What the hell happened?”

“She drank a little too much,” Sans said handing you to Mia.

“Miiiiaaaaa! You look sooo pretty. Doesn’t she, Sans??” you smiled, “Shhh, she’s got a boyfriend. He’d be jellly!”

She sighed, “Maggie doesn’t usually drink. She’s a total lightweight. Well, thanks for bringing her back-”

It was like it just registered that he was a skeleton. She just stared for a second then asked, “Your one of her new friends she met, aren’t you?”

“Names Sans,” he nodded, hands shoved in his pockets.

“Mia,” your roommate replied, “I’m sorry, but I’d better take care of her,” You were hugging Mia and was dozing off.

Sans nodded, “No problem. Later.”

He turned and left. Mia helped you into bed, the whole time calling you a doorknob and an idiot. You passed out instantly.

 


	8. Ya had a bad day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: PTSD in the form of dreams.

You were dead asleep, dreaming about turtle ducks . They were swimming around you begging for bread, flapping their tiny yellow wings. They wagged their little feathered tails as they dove for the crumbs you threw. You giggled softly. You heard someone calling your name. You turned and saw him. He had a gun in his hand. He said he’d shoot if you moved. You froze, shaking. He grabbed at you and you started to hyperventilate.

_No...not again._

You tried to scream but no words came out. You twisted your wrist, trying to get out of his grip but it only tightened. He was towering over you now. You began to silently wail for help. He shoved you down into the shallow water causing the turtle ducks to scatter.

_Someone...anyone..help._

 

_Please._

 

 

But no one came.

 

 

 

You shot up in your bed and screamed in fright. Your breathing was heavy. Your curls and nightshirt clung to your body from sweat. You looked around the room. He wasn’t there. You sighed in relief, floppy back onto your pillow. You turned your head to the clock. It was 5:50.

_Dammit. Undyne's gonna call in a minute. Might as well get up._

You swung your legs off the bed and walked over to your sink. You turned on the lights and stared out yourself. You looked terrible. Your eyes were red from crying and had dark bags under them. Another sign you had the nightmares still.

“I thought I was done with those,” you hissed to yourself, “He’s out of your life. Forget it.”

You rubbed your eyes and began your morning routine. Since Mia had stayed at Jack’s, you had the room to yourself. So you turned on some Carrie Underwood. Her breakup songs were just what you needed.

 _“_ _That lipstick on your collar, well, it ain't my shade of pink. And I can tell by the smell of that perfume, it's like forty dollars too cheap. And there's a little wine stain on the pocket of your white cotton thread. Well, you drink beer and whiskey, boy, and you know I don't drink red.”_

You couldn’t sing alto for shit but you still hummed along as you wrestled with your sports bra.

_“Found it over in the corner, wadded up on the bedroom floor. You shoulda hid it in the closet. You shoulda burned it. You shoulda lost it.”_

You smiled as you shimmied into work out leggings.

_“Now I'ma have to hang you out to dry, dry, dry. Clothespin all your secrets to the line, line, line. Leave 'em blowing in the wind, just say goodbye to you. All those midnights sneaking in ‘I'm late again, oh, I'm so sorry’. All the Ajax in the world ain't gonna clean your dirty laundry.”_

You swayed to the music as you tied your hair into a puffy bun. You heard your phone ring. It was Undyne.

“NERD!!!!! You awake!?”

You winced at her volume, “Yep, gotta early start.”

“GOOD! I’m already here anyway. Think you can keep up, today?”

You smiled, “Undyne, you can run a mile in ten minutes. You know I never will.”

“ FUHUHUHU! That’s right, Punk-THAT DOEN’T MEAN YOU GET TO SKIP!”

You laughed, “Alright, I’ll be out in a sec.”

You hung up and slipped on your tennis shoes. You hated working out. You would so much rather be a couch potato like Sans. However, your efforts weren’t for nothing. Mia had pointed out during the weekend that your calves, forearms, and back were more defined.

You manage to stumble on the door frame and face plant yourself onto the concrete.

_Gonna be one of those days._

“Dude, I’ve told you so many times; watch your step,” Undyne pulled you up.

You sighed, “Sorry. Bad morning.”

It was still dark out and really chill. You knew you wouldn’t need anything more than the sweater you had on. The workouts were intense.

“COME ON!!!” Undyne tugged at your arm and you were off to face pain and sorrow.

  


“I...h.hate y.you…” you panted and flopped down on the matt. Undyne and convinced you to do almost a hundred push-ups by now.

“You only need ten more,” she urges, “Come on, wimp. Don’t you want to get stronger.”

You puffed out your cheeks and the fish just laughed, “Know what helps me? Think of someone you wanna fight, or protect. Doesn’t matter. Just something that gives you determination.”

Your mind was still on your dream. You felt heat boil up from your stomach.

“One. Two.”

_He will never hurt you again._

“Three. Four.”

_He will never even touch you again._

_“_ Five….Six…”

_He will never go near Lizzy or Mia._

“Seven…”

_He wouldn’t touch your new friends._

“Eight…Nine…”

_He doesn't own me._

“Ten.”

You flopped onto your stomach, heaving.

“NICE, PUNK! Now don’t you gotta go get ready???” she wiggled your eyebrows dramatically.

“Oh god, where are you going with this,” you muttered. You’d had this discussion before.

“He llllllikes you,” she smirked.

“No. He doesn’t,” you said annoyed because you have said this a hundred times.

“COME ON!! Sans don’t have an 8 am and he’s up just to walk you to class? Please, I’ve known lazybones for years. He is NOT a morning person.

“He tutors at 8:30,” you commented.

“He’d just get up at fucking 8:20 then and take a shortcut!” Undyne fussed and grabbed your shoulders, “You’re in denial.”

You glared and shoved her large hands off of you, “I’m not. He’s just a good friend.”

She narrowed her eyes, “You need more proof? FINE! CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!”

You rolled your eyes and exited the gym.

 

 

You took a quick shower when you got back. Lately, you’ve been taking cooler showered because of the sweat but it still felt great on your sore muscles. You gave your thighs a small massage, moaning at how good that felt.

_If it wasn’t Undyne, I would never have done this.I better get a nice butt out of all this work though._

You quickly threw on a pair of jeans and an oversized sweater with the tootsie pop owl on it when you got out of the shower. You knew Sans would be at your place in a minute. You tried to dry your hair the best that you could and then pull them into pigtails. A second later, you heard a knock at the door. You finished up and opened the door for Sans.

“Hey!” you said, welcoming him in, “I just need to get my shoes.”

He nodded and stepped in. You tried to do that whole putting on your shoes while standing up and went tumbling for the second time that morning. Thankful, Sans caught your arm and stood you back up.

“Not again,” you faced palmed yourself.

“I was going to ask you owl you doin’, but I’m guessing I know the answer,” he poked at your sweater.

You groaned, “Yeah, it's just been one of those days.”

You slipped on your other shoe, sitting down this time. You saw Sans looking around your room. It was a bit of a mess, which make you feel a little self-conscious. You had books and textbooks opens all over your desk with sticky notes and sketches plastered from your desk climbing up the walls. He went over to your unmade bed and stared at the photos that were tacked up. He pointed at one of them.

“Is this Lizzy?”

You looked, “Yeah, she was helping me get ready for my junior prom. I’m crappy at makeup and hair.”

He kept staring at the photo of your sister and you. The silence was becoming uncomfortable to you. You cleared your throat, “We better go.”

He blinked like he’s been in deep thought and turned back to you. You wanted to tease him, after all the times he’d teased you but didn’t feel like it.

“Alright. C’mon, space cadet.”

You groaned and locked the room behind you. The air was still crisped outside, but this time you had a thicker sweater so you could stomach the cold. The two of you made your usual small talk across campus, but because today couldn’t get any better, Dr. Hans was walking on the same path as the two of you. You know he was walking in the same direction as he was the professor of the class. You thought it would be an awkward walk between the three of you to the building but he actually glared at the two of you, wrinkling his nose in disgust and briskly walked to get as much space between Sans and you as possible.

“Well, ain’t he a charmer,” Sans noted.

You stuck your tongue out at the back of your fleeing professor, “Asshole. What’s his deal? Usually, he just ignores me when we see each other on campus, but that was just rude.”

Sans just shrugged, “Just add it to the tongue of problems I’ve heard about him.”

You smiled at the pun, “It’s okay. It’s just the sooner this semester is over, the sooner I can write that nasty review for that piece of work.”

You rubbed your hands greedily and mimicked an evil laugh. Sans rolled his eyelights but his smile widened.

“What?” you huffed, “I can be scary too if I want.”

“To what? A gerbil?”

You puffed out your cheeks and walked faster in annoyance. Sans kept up. You were surprised he managed to do that. You always walked with a purpose, which was a bit on the fast side. You would have thought that he’d not keep up with his lazy demeanor.

“Ah come on, kiddo!” he teased.

“I’m not a kid,” you glared at him, but it was all in good fun. If you were Lizzy though, you’d have made a daddy kink joke by now.

“But your stomping off with your cheeks all poofed out and red,” he pinched one and you swatted at his hand, “Awww, are you gonna had a temper tantrum?”

“AAAND I take my leave,” you answered as you reached the building.

“See ya later, alligator.”

You rolled your eyes and walked into the lecture hall.

  


You tried to pay to attend. You really did, but you couldn’t help that Dr. Hans’s lecture style was so monotone.

_Okay was are we talking ok? Genetics. Come on, dude, how are you making this not interesting._

“When the gene changes structure from a mutation,” the professor continued, “The correct DNA strand is made out of balance by the additional code inserted. This can lead to the overall shape of the chromosome to be damaged."

He was actually looking at you will he spoke, which he never does.

“This can result in conditions in such things as extra chromosomes like seen in Down syndrome. It can cause pigmentation defects. These to can also affect your overall brain chemisty. As a biologist, it is our job to find out ways that can prevent the births of these anomalies."

You could have sworn he was directing this all at you from the way he was talking.

You decided to tune him out and talk to Jay. You didn’t want to get caught today, so you went the safe way and shared a notebook that contained your conversation.

 

**Let me fight him!**

**_Lol I’ll tape it. I’ll totally get a bunch of likes!_ **

**Dude! you're supposed to want to hold him down! I thought we were friends T-T**

**_Mags, I’m not getting sent to conduct board because of this son of a bitch._ **

**No fair!**

**_LOL so did you see what pissed him off this morning?? I was all over social media._ **

**I don’t use mine.**

**_Okay, so apparently some students found out he was part of one of those bigot  anti-monster organizations of the county and they eggs, teepeed, and spray painted his entire house. It'll take weeks to clean up! Then someone hacked into the college’s Twitter account and sent a pic of what happened, saying FUCK ALL YA MONSTA HATAS!_ **

You frowned.

**Wow, that’s unprofessional. I mean I hate the guy too but violence isn’t a solution.**

**_Didn’t you just want to fight him? ;)_ **

**Dude, I’m serious. I talk the talk but I’ll never walk it.**

**_True, you cried when you stepped on that lady bug._ **

**Shut up.**

 

“Ms. Murphy?”

You jumped a little in your seat, “Yes, sir.”

“Can you answer my question?”

_Shit._

“Uhh...can you repeat it?”

“Can you list a genetic mutation that has been a benefit rather than a drawback?” he had a smug smile on his dumbass face.

You knew he was just toying with you. Still, your panic ceased as you remembered a study that Sans and you had come across with studying this last week.

“While it's not considered one anymore but what about the hemoglobin mutation named HbS. It makes red blood cells take on a curved, sickle-like shape. With one copy, it confers resistance to malaria. Wouldn’t you think that's a good thing, professor?”

You wish you could have framed the look on his purple face. He ignored you throughout the rest of the lecture until he dismissed everyone. He walked up to you like he had something to say but you slipped out like an eal, leaving Jay behind.

_Sorry, Jay. It’s for a good cause!_

 

 

You flopped down on your bed and groaned. You hated that class...and it’s only October!

You felt your phone buzz.

You looked at it and froze.

 

 **Unknown:** It’s me. Why have I been hearing about your new “friends”?

 

You didn’t respond.

 

 **Unknown:** don’t ignore me. What are you doing with those freaks?

 

_Who told him???_

 

 **Unknown:** answer me bitch.

 

**Unknown calling...**

 

**(disconnect)**

 

**(Block)**

 

You call Mia, your heart in your throat.

“Heya, Maggie. What’s up? I’ve got to go soon so I-”

“Jason tried to call me,” that’s all you had to say.

“Give me five minutes.”

 

Five minutes later, Mia is storming through the door, “Please tell me you didn’t answer.”

You shook your head, your knee close to your chest, “Of course not. I’m done with him. I blocked him...again. He just keeps on using another phone. Where the hell is he getting them from???”

“Probalbly his friends,” Mia sat down next to you. You were curled up with your face in a pillow.

“I hate this,” you mutter, “It’s been a year since I dumped him. When will he realize I’m not interested???”

Mia just hugged, staying silent. Your phone went off again. You slowed reached out and looked at it.

 

 **Unknown:** Don’t make me come get you. I know where you live.

 

Your eyes widen with panic.

 

 **Unknown:** You too good for me but not for those freaks??? Have you become a whore since I-

 

You couldn’t read the rest. Didn’t matter anyway as it showed the number was called. Mia swore.

“Give me that,” she demanded. You passed your phone over and she answered it, “What the fuck do you want you, Hijo de puta???”

Her accent came through a little when she was pissed.

“You think chica would crawl back, huh??? WELL, who’s the one on their belly?”

A muffled response came from the phone and her eyes blazed.

“Call her again you Joder, and the cops will be on your ass!”

She hung up and screamed, “¡Vaya gilipollas que es este tipo!”

You had no idea what she was saying, as your Spanish was limited. She fell back on your bed, still holding your phone, “Turn off your phone for a while. Hopefully, he’ll give up.”

You nodded and looked down, “I’m sor-”

“Don’t start it, chica,” it was a demand, but she said it softly while she hugged you, “I won’t let him touch you.”

You smiled and hugged back.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Dirty Laundry" (c) Carrie Underwood  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNdmSeN_QJU


	9. Family Weekend

 

Your school had a tendency to have family weekend rather late during the semester. It was already a little more than a month in. Family weekend is an event where family member come to visit the freshmen as see how they are adjusting to the new setting. No one came for you as a freshman so you wouldn’t be surprised if no one came for you this year. Instead, you had made plans with your new friends. You had told them about family weekend, and their response was to has a big sleepover.

“A sleepover?”

“YES, THAT WOULD BE A WONDERFUL IDEA!” Papyrus suggested cheerfully.

“Y-yeah, we c-can p-play g-games a-and f-finish up Soul Eater w-we were w-watching last week,” Alped cheered, clapping her hands.

You frowned, “Don’t you want to see your families?”

“We ain’t got any, Punk,” Undyne folded her arms and looked cross.

You didn’t want to push, sensing this was a serious topic but Undyne continued.

“A big portion of the old generations of monsters were killed off by humans during the great war.”

You bowed your head, feeling ashamed. You didn’t know much of the history of monsters; only that humans erased a big chunk of history during the fall of the Roman empire more than a thousand years ago.

You looked up at them suddenly, “Wait, how old are you all?

Undyne shrugged and stretched, “Gave up counting a long time ago.”

“But Sans said he was about three hundred…”

“T-the s-skeleton br-rothers are youn-ger th-an Undyne and I,” Alphys blushed, playing with her hands.

You turned to Sans and Papyrus, “You two have family still?”

Papyrus looked uncomfortable and Sans’s smile looked strained, “None that we consider so.”

You brought your knees up to your chin, “I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Undyne threw her arm around you, “AH DON’T BE, PUNK! That just means we can spend the weekend together tomorrow!”

You smiled and returned the hung.

  
  
  


The next day you were heading to the brother’s apartment when your phone when off. You saw it was Lizzy so you answered it.

“Hey, Liz. What’s up?”

“SURPRISE, MOTHER FUCKA!” she screamed, “I’m outside your dorm. Hurry up and let me it.”

She hung up. You just stare at your phone, shocked. 

_ Lizzy was here??? _

You already had plans with the gang but your sister was here.

_ What the hell do I do??? _

_ I don’t know, this has never happened before. You’re never this popular with people!!! _

You hurried to open the door to your impatient sister. She flung her arms around you squeezing you tight.

“Aw, I missed you, big sis!!” she squealed.

You were still in shock, “H-how...how….”

She held up her license and keys, “I am sixteen. I can drive, dude.”

“That’s not what I ment….”

“You meant how did I get pass mother?” she quirked an eyebrow, “Easy, I told her I was staying at a friends house.”

You signed, “Dude, she’ll find out. Mother knows all.”

“I’ll deal with that when it comes to it,” she smiles and plopped herself on the bed.

“Hey, I need to make a call real quick, Liz,” I said, pulling out your phone.

“No probs,” she waved back.

You stepped out the room and called Sans. After a few rings, he picked up.

“Sup,”

“H-Hey, um. Sorry, but I may not be able to come over. You see, Lizzy just came for a surprise visit and I don’t want her trip to be put to waste.”

“If you want, she can come too?”

You blinked. You weren’t expecting that among the hundreds of negative replies your head came up with.

“Are you sure?” you asked sincerely, “I don’t want to cause any trouble. Will the others be okay with that?

You heard Sans talk to someone else on the receiving end and also muffled replies. A minute later he responded.

“No ones got a problem and I’m cool with it too- as long as she is nice to Papyrus.”

You smiled, “Thank you so much. She’d mean wanting to meet you all.”

“See ya in a bit.”

You hung up and went back into the room. Lizzy and sitting upside down on your bed like a bored kid.

“So, what are we doing?”

You rub your neck, “Well, a group of friends invited me to a sleepover earlier this week. I just called them and told them you were in town. They said they’d love to meet you.”

She jumped up, “Awesome, are these your monster friends??”

“Yes-oh no”

She flung herself at you. Lizzy was a very touchy person. 

“AWESOME! I’ve been wanting be meet monsters for like forever!”

You huffed, beneath her grip, “Liz, they’ve only been  on the surface for five years.”

“Figure of speech, Mags.”

You rolled your eyes, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Think you can drive us? Unless you want to take the bus...”

Lizzy wrinkles up her nose in disgust, “Hell no, you are not getting me in that tin can.”

You laughed as you grabbed your backpack, about to head out the down when you remembered, “Shoot, I’ll need my pills.” You took out a small pill carrier and popped the pills in. 

_ God, why is there so many??? _

“C’mon!!! I want to meet your friends!” Lizzy whined.

“Alright. Alright, I’m coming.”

“That’s what she said,” your younger sister elbowed you.

  
  


 

You directed Lizzy to the apartment building and decided to talk to her before she got inside.

“Hey, Lizzy. While this isn’t a rule, it’s best if you don’t swear as much-”

“I don’t fuckin’ swear too much!” she faked offense.

You looked at her with a stony expression, “Bull.”

She just laughed but agreed to the terms. You knocked on the door and Frisk answered. You hadn’t seen them in a while, but they still greeted you like an old friend.

**Maggie! It’s so great to so you! Is this your sister?**

You smiled and signed back, **It's** **good to see you too. Yes, this is Lizzy.**

Lizzy stared blanky- and a little disappointed to see a human. She was too young to remember the time you signed as a toddler. 

“Umm…” she poked your sides, “Are they…?”

“They can hear fine,” you respond, “Frisk is just mute, so don't worry you can talk, Liz.”

“Oh! Okay then, hey!”

Frisk smiled politely and gestered for us to enter. You looked at Lizzy’s eyes, wishing you were better at social cues because you couldn’t tell if she was excited or nervous. You gripped her hand nonetheless.

Undyne rammed into you like a train, lifting you up in the air in a hug. Lizzy’s jaw dropped.

“What took you so long, NERD??” she looked at Lizzy’s bulging eyes, “This is your sister, right? She okay?”

“UNDYNE, DID YOU BREAK THE TINY HUMAN’S SIBLING??” Papyrus walked by looking worried.

“I-I don’t t-think that i-is poss-isble but it c-could be s-shock,” Alphy could be seen, peeking out behind the corner. Poor girl, she was always nervous with new people.

“Won’t that be electrifying.”

“SANS! YOUR BAD PUNS IS NOT HOW YOU GREET NEW FRIENDS!”

“Can’t help it, bro,” Sans smiled, “But seriously, is she okay?”

You sister hadn’t stopped gawking at your friends and you shook her shoulder and you whispered, “Earth to Liz Biz.”

“Apples don’t fall far from the tree?” Sans offered, “Isn’t that right, space cadet?”

You glared, and turned back to Lizzy, “Lizzy, I think we-”

Out of nowhere, she let out a scream of joy and jumped up and down like a two year old at Disney World. 

“OH, MY GOD! DID YOU SEE THAT FISH LADY SHOULDER SLAM INTO YOU?! THAT WAS AWESOME!”

The monsters were just stunned, but your sister wasn’t finish.

“I knew monsters looked different but no one told me you were cool looking. OMG is that Undyne? She’s so buff! Oh wow your tall, dude!” she looked up at Papyrus, “And people say I’m tall- Are you two brothers?! Wow, you look so different! Does that makemeracistIdon’tknowwhattosayomgthatsAlphysright?Shelookssocute-”

“OKAY!” You waved your hands in front of her face. You had been scared that she’d be overwhelmed and wasn’t prepared for the other way around. Your friends just stared for a minute before Sans snorted, holding back a giggle.

“Sorry,” he smiled, “just can’t believe you two apples fell from the same tree.”

Your cheeks pinked.

“Yeah!” Undyne agreed, “I’ve only seen Maggie like that about anime!”

Lizzy pointed you, “NERD!”

You rolled your eyes but you saw Frisk stifle a laugh.

She smirked then turned to your friends, “Sorry about that. I’ve never really met a monster before. I’m Lizzy.”

Papyrus recovered from his own shock, “GREETINGS, HUMAN SIBLING, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

She giggled and shook his hand, “You’re the one that likes to cook, right?”

Papyrus’s eyes brighten, “ABSOLUTELY. I AM A FANTASTIC COOK AND AM PREPARING THE MEAL FOR TONIGHT.”

“Really, what is it?” she asked.

“IT'S A SECRET. I ONLY WILL TELL THOSE WHO WORK IN THE KITCHEN.”

Lizzy rolled up her sleaved, “Mind if I join. Mine not half bad myself.”

Papyrus was happy for the assistance and you tried join them but Lizzy put a stop to that.

“Absolutely not. You are talented at many things, big sis, but a chef you are not. This will be the work of two master chefs. You will not touch it. It will burn upon contact.”

Others may have seen this as harsh, but it was true. You were a shitting cook, so you just laughed and watched them work. You could tell they were making a baked ziti as you’ve seen Lizzy cook enough to know the dishes.

Alphys and Undyne were finishing up the last episodes of Soul Eater. While you love that show, you would rather watch your sister cook. She was so concentrated and worked  with practice hands. Lizzy caught you staring

“Instead of gawking but don’t you do something YOU’RE got at like drawing?”

Sans looked at Lizzy, “Your sister can draw?”

“Are you kidding that's all she ever does at home. I’m surprised you didn’t want to be an art major, Mags. Did you know, Sans?”

Sans looked at you and smirked, “Nope.”

You sighed, “I didn’t want it to become a chore and I'm never really motivated and I don’t have time when I’m at school.”

“You got time now,” Lizzy commented pointed a mixing spoon as Sans, “Sans, get this lady pen and paper. Stat.”

He nodded and came back with the acquired materials.

I sighed, unamused, “What do you want me to do?”

“Anything! Just draw.”

You lean back in your chair, thinking...or you least tried to except...

“Would you give a girl some space!” you yelled at Lizzy and Sans, who were leaning against the table too close to your personal bubble.

“Jeez, sorry kid.”

“Wow, Maggie, I didn’t know you were into that,” Lizzy smirked.

tick.

 

_ You could draw out your frustration of strangling those two- _

 

_ No no no. _

 

_ Think positive. _

 

_ Think happy... _

 

_ Think happy thoughts! _

_ Happy thoughts. _

_ Flying _

_ Peter Pan. _

_ Books. _

_ Books with flying. _

_ Maximum Ride _

_ Max. _

_ Fang. _

_ The fact that the author did with them in the last Book!- Focus! _

 

_ Focus _

 

_ Focalin _

_ Pills….so many pills…..backpack-Stay on topic! _

 

_ Topic _

_ Tops _

_ Spinning _

_ Dancers  _

_ Ballet! _

_ Swan Lake _

_ Beautiful...but dramatic _

 

_...Beethoven! _

You pulled out your phone and played a piece that came to mind. You drew what you hear from the violin and piano. The tempo affected your speed. The dynamic affected your pressure. You let your hand wander to the music and the franticness of the piece is what you were trying to convey.

“What is that?” Sans asked.

“Beethoven’s violin sonata no.9; Kreutzer.”

“Fan of the classics?” he mused.

You nodded but you were in the zone. You forgot how much you loved to illustrate Beethoven’s work. He had put so much emotion into his music. After the half hour of music with, you finally put your pencil down. It was of a dancer performing an Arabesque while frantically reaching upward, back bowed as if gracefully drowning. Of course, the body was exaggerated with no model as a base and the music caused it to have a sketchy, semi-abstract look.

You held it up to examine your piece before give an approving nod, “Done.”

Frisk had wondered over,  **That’s so cool, Maggie!**

Sans had been watching the whole time, “Whoa, that’s actually really good.”

You eyed them, “Thank you?”

He winced, “Didn’t mean it to come out that way.”

You chuckled, “it’s cool, dude,” and you passed it to him, “You can keep it if you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“First rule about art: never get attached to your work. Keep it. I’ll most likely lose it.”

He nodded in understanding, folding the paper and putting it in his pockets. Lizzy and Papyrus had put the dish in the oven at this point and joined Undyne and Alphys, who had finishedinish an episode.

“Let’s play a game,” Lizzy suggested.

“EXCELLENT IDEA!” Papyrus cheered, “WHAT SHOULD WE PLAY?”

Lizzy looked quizzical, “Hmm...How about never have I ever?”

You grimaced, “Lizzy…”

“We don’t need to use alcohole. You folks got soda?”

Papyrus tilted his head, “WHAT IS THIS GAME?”

“Okay, so someone says something they never have done before and if anyone else in the group has done it, they take a drink. You go until everyone's drink is empty but the winner.”

“Sounds COOL,” intergected Undyne. Frisk nodded in agreement. Alphys just looked nervous.

You stepped next to Lizzy, “Liz, you sure this is a good idea?”

“What? Its a great way to get to know people. Plus, its not aways about sex. Get ya mind out of the gutter.”

You swatted at her but sat down next to her. Everyone was on the floor or couch in a circle. Sans brought over some coke and plastic cups. He filled them and pasted them around.

“Okay, Okay, I’ll go first,” Lizzy stated, so everyone else could get a sense of the rules, “Never have I ever worn a dress.”

Alphys and you drank, but Undyne glared sketicly, “Really?”

“She would throw a tissy fit as a kid if mom dared to force her to wear it,” you added.

“Your turn, Alphys.”

“O-okay, ummmm….n-never have I e-ever, huh, been to the ocean.” Lizzy and you drank.

“Really, none of you??” They all just shrugged.

“Never have I ever....” Unyne grinned at you, “cried at a movie…”

You flushed, “For your information, some movies has darker themes and-”

“-by Disney.”

You turned crimson, “You guys are detemind to make me lose.”

“Is that a challenge?” Sans quirked a brow bone and leaned towards you.

You said, dead panned, “No.”

He smiled, “Never have I ever tripped over nothing.”

You grouned and took a sip. The cup was nearly empty and the first round wasn’t even over, “I hate you,”

Frisk giggled,  **Never have I ever beaten someone up.**

Undyne, Lizzy, and Sans all drank out of their cups. You weren’t surprised really. Then it was Papyrus turn.

“HMM, I KNOW! NEVER HAVE I EVER BEEN TO A CONCERT.”

Lizzy drank.

“Not even Mettaton's?” you asked.

“NOT YET, BUT I’M SAVING UP!”

You nodded as a responce it was your turn. Time of revenge.

“Never have I ever taken a nap in class-”

Lizzy only drank.

“-including unnecessary gen eds!”

Sans and Undyne glared at you and gave them a victorious grin.

“That’s not fair,” whined Undyne, “Philosophy is soooo boring AND YOU can’t tack on anything.”

“You did.”

She frowned, took a swig and folded her arms pouting.

Sans sighed, “Well played, kid,” and he took a sip of his own.

_ How does that work? _

Lizzy looked at your cup and saw both of you were almost empty. You could tell she was determind to defeat you. She gave you a malicious grin and you knew what she was going to say by the evil glint in her eye. Your own eyes widen. 

_ She wouldn’t…..fuck she would! _

“Never have I ev-”

You flung yourself at her, tackling your sister to the ground in a tickle fight. She cryied and gasped for air from the laughter. Her body was twisting like a cobra, trying to get free but to no prevale. 

“Al-alright. Alri-ight. ALRIGHT, YOU WIN!” you stopped and Lizzy glared at you, but was still smiling, “I won’t tell them.”

You friends had just stared at you in awe; mostly because your actions were very much unlike you.

“What?” you acted defensive, “She was about to spill the beans on a time I acted stupid.”

“Were you drunk?” Undyne grinned. Dammit, Sans must have told them about your experiance with the monster whisky.

Lizzy and Sans snickered. You glared at both of them, your face red and your arms folded, “I don’t have to answer that."

Frisk tried to sign for Lizzy to tell them later. They must have forgotten she didn’t know ASL. 

Lizzy did manage to work themselves into a giggle fit with made everyone else laugh and just the weirdness of the moment. Eventually, you laughed too.

  
  


 

You lost; no surprise. Turned out, Alphys won though. Apparently, most of her life underground consisted of staying in her lab watching anime.

_ A pure otaku till the end.  _ You smiled.

The bake ziti was finished and smelled delicious. There wasn’t enough room on the table so everyone just sat on the couch or pull up chairs used for game night and watched a movie. Since Lizzy was the guest, she picked out a movie. You were nervous because you knew she loved horror and creepy movies and also knew both Papyrus and yourself wouldn’t enjoy it.  Lizzy had brought along her huge collection of DVDs with her for the visit. She picked out “Little Shop of Horrors”.

_ Okay. That’s not too bad.  _

You sighed in relief. Of course, it had some darker moments but it was mostly just silly. Sans made fun of Lizzy and you singing along like two drunk idiots trying to fake Brooklyn accents. The two of you loved musicals.

“What the heck??” Undyne fused, “Why is the chick staying with the sadistic dentist when she could be getting Seymore.”

You itched your wrist.

“‘Cause she doesn’t feel she’s got a choice,” Lizzy answered.

“But-”

“Shhh. Just wait and watch!” Lizzy was serious about movies.

Sans looked so confused when he saw the plant could talk, “Is that thing...a dude?” He pointed at the screen.

“Yep.”

Papyrus freaked out near the end when he thought the main charactors were going to die but was happy with the ending given.

_ Thank jesus its not the broadway ending when EVERYONE DIES! _

 

 

You forgot was happened after the movie, you were so tired. You think they put on another but it was all white noise to you. You curled up in your sister’s lap, like you did when you were younger. No matter the age difference, she had always been bigger than you. You remember moving around a lot before someone placed a blanket over you and you drifted to sleep in its warmth.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Violin Sonata no. 9 (c) Beethoven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoJBmVPsJrY&t=1742s 
> 
> thank you for everyone's support in this series. I will try to do weekly updates on either Friday or Saturday. I will try to catch up "Made of Stone" so the two will be releases with their respecting chapters


	10. The calm before the storm

You woke up early for a change. It wasn’t because of the sun shining through the tiny window. In fact, there was no sun at all; the sky was filled with dark clouds. You felt a little awkward once you realized your position. Sans and Lizzy were on either ends of the couch and you were sprawled out over their laps like a rag doll. The worst part was you were leaning against Sans. You blushed when you saw and gently remove yourself from his shoulder. He looked so calm while he slept. You wanted to watch him sleep, but you felt it would be borderline creepy. Instead, you woke Lizzy. She moaned and swatted at you like a fly.

“Five minutes,” she muffled into the blanket that she had stolen over the course of the night.

You shoved her and whispered, “Get up. Let's make them breakfast.”

She looked at you with only one eye okay, “Pancakes?”

You nodded.

“Done.”

The two of you tiptoes into the kitchen. You showed her where they kept the mixing bowls and ingredients and she went to work. Just as Papyrus was beginning to stir was the first bunch baking on the stove.

“Morning, Papyrus, Lizzy whispered.

“MORN-I mean, good morning to you too, human sibling,” Papyrus lowered his usual loud voice then saw what you two were doing, “You're making breakfast for us? That’s wonderful! Let me wake the others so these don’t go to waste.”

He spun around and cleared his throat, “WAKE UP LAZYBONES. THE HUMANS HAVE MADE PANCAKES. UP!”

Frisk, Undyne, and Alphys jumped slightly, but Sans didn’t budge. Papyrus went over the shook him.

_Oh dear._

“SANS, WAKE UP! YOU ARE BEING RUDE.”

Sans opening one eye and gives him a thumbs up, “Sorry, bro. The time just _crêped_ up on me.”

You were scared Papyrus was going to throw Sans out the window. Instead, he just dropped Sans and stomped away.  Sans smile never wavered, “Aw, come on, Paps, _flip_ that frown upside down.”

Frisk laughed. You giggled and went over to help him up, while Lizzy served the first batch, “You okay, dude?”

“Yeah,” he continued to smile as you hauled him to his feet, “Paps loves my puns.”

“NO I DON’T!” Papyrus called out.

“But you’re smiling,” Sans poked his brother.

Paps folding his arms, “I AM AND I HATE IT.”

You and Frisk burst out into laughter at the brother’s banter. You both seemed to find it amusing.

“What are you nerds yapping about? Ugh, It’s too early for this crap!” Undyne yelled. You knew she wasn’t much of a morning person.

Alphys took a bite of your sister’s pancakes and her groggy eyes lit up, “Liz-zy, these ar-are spectac-cular. D-did you add bl-blueberries?”

Your sister nodded, “Yup, I thought it would add some flavor.”

Undyne took a bite as well, “Holy Crap, this is great, Punk!”

**These are so delicious!**

“Dude, there just pancakes. Any idiot caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan….” she looked at you as her voice trailed off, “Well, most.”

You folded your arms and stomped just like Papyrus had a minute ago, “Rude.”

Papyrus, Sans, and yourself grabbed a plate and helped yourself to a stack. Like always, Lizzy’s pancakes tasted wonderful.

“Anyone want seconds?”

Everyone raised their hands.

 

After another helping, you helped Lizzy clean up. During which, her phone started buzzing. She looked at it and stiffened. You knew it was Mother.

“Hey, Papyrus, do you have a bathroom?” she asked. Papyrus pointed her in the general direction. You saw her scurry into the bathroom to answer. When she closed the door, you lightly crept to the door to listen in.

“Mom, I’m fine.”

You tried to make out the voice from the phone, but it was only a muffle.

“Kelsey’s just broke up with her boyfriend. I need to be there for her.”

_Dammit._

You knew she was lying for your sake, but you still didn’t like it.

“Yes, again. I think they're done for good this time.”

_How can she keep up with this story? It sounds like she uses it a lot._

There was a pause before Lizzy said, “No. No, I’ll just borrow some of her clothes. We do that all the time.”

Then her voice hardened, “No, I haven’t. Why?”

_Oh no._

“Mom, I have told you before: I am not going to be the median or a messenger between you two anymore. I am done with that shit.”

You winced. You knew she was referring to mom and you.

“Whatcha doing?”

You jolted back into the wall when you saw leaning against it next to you.

_Crap. Busted._

“I-I’m just….you know…”

He gave you a weary look then whispered, “Why don’t you give her some privacy?”

You didn’t want to but he took your hand and guided you away from the door.

“You don’t need to worry about things you can’t control,” he added.

_How does he see right through me like that?_

 

 

 

Frisk left soon after breakfast. Thanks to Lizzy’s pretty little lies, she stayed throughout Saturday. Good thing too because a horrible storm hit throughout the whole day so it was pointless going outside. You wouldn’t have been comfortable with her driving in that.  You always hated storms: the bang and flash of the massive amount of static electricity drove your senses crazy. The electricity went out an hour in. Undyne materialized a bunch of glowing blue spears around the room that gave it a cool hue. You could sort tell people were getting bored without there electronics.

Lizzy was holding you as your rocked back and forth, covering your ears and eyes. Each time lightning flashes and thunder rumbles, your squeak and clutch your sister tighter. Sometimes, you felt she was the big sister instead of the other way around.

“Is there anything we can be?” Sans asked Lizzy. He was sitting across the floor from the two of you, his glaze concerned.

Lizzy shook her head, “Not from me. This stuff isn’t my forte, but rocking her back and forth helps. Do you all have a heavy blanket or a comforter?”

Papyrus nodded. He was so eager to be helpful that he rushed into one of the other rooms to grab one. Alphys and Undyne were alien to this side of you too. You felt bad that you left them in such a helpless state. Papyrus came back with a spare wool blanket and draped it around you.

Sans looked at Lizzy again, “How does that help?”

“Deep pressure therapy,” she stated, “Or at least something similar.”

You were able to calm down a little bit. You sat up and pulled the security blanket around you tightly. You saw everyone was looking at you; your ears turned red. Then your phone started to ring.

_Please don’t be Mom. Please don’t be Mom. Please don’t be Mom. I don’t need any extra stress._

You saw it was Mia. You answered.

You answered but your voice felt sprained, “H-hello?”

“Hey, Chica,” she already sounded concern, “Where are you??? I went back to the dorm because I was worried about you. Are you okay??”

Before you could answer, she continued.

“Wait...Please, don’t say you're at your friend's apartment.”

You told her. She swore in Spanish.

“Ugh, I knew it! And I was just there at Jacks. Give me five minutes, luv. I’ll be there with the stuff.”

She hung up.

Lizzy eyed your phone, “Mia?”

You nodded, “Yeah, she’s bringing some things,” you turned to Sans and Papyrus, “I-I hope that's okay.”

They both nodded, “OF COURSE. ANYTHING TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER.”

“W-what i-is she br-bringing?” asked Alphys.

You were about to answer when another boom and flash hit. Your nervous system when haywire as you threw yourself against Lizzy.

“Shh...it’s okay,”

_Ugh, I hate this! I hate feeling helpless._

After another minute you sat up, took a breath and answered Alphys’s question.

“We kinda got a little first aid kit for episodes like this,” you guested to outside, “Just some stuff to calm me down and/or distract me. Seems to work.”

“Dammit!” Lizzy cursed at herself, “Why didn’t I think of that!?”

She sounded truly mad at herself. You leaned into her, “It’s okay. Your still my favorite sister.”

She laughs, making you smile until (of course) thunder roars once again, cracking through the air this time. Your ears start ringing.

_Those are the worse._

Five minutes later, there was a knock on the brothers’ door. Sans opened it and let Mia through.

“I’m…here,” she huffed. Her usual perfect hair was in a messing braid. She had ditched the makeup due to the rain and was wearing a hoodie and work out legs; very casual for her. She was a backpack slung over her back and a stuffed trash bag. She was huffing and puffing for whatever was in that bag.

“Maggie, you got to start cleaning the room! It took me forever to find this,” she pulled a gray confronted from the trash bag. You knew what it was right away and she threw it at you.

_Ohshit!_

Your weighted blanket- made with thirty pounds of sand- slammed into you like a bowling ball, knocking the wind right out of you.

“Ow!” You glared at her and said in a hoarse voice, “Way to be subtle.”

“Oops, I forgot how,” she tapped her finger against her chin, “you can give me a subtle thank you to show me.”

You winced, “Thanks…you really not have to-”

“Oh shut up,” your roommate turned from you, “Anyone got something to heat up water?”

“M-my ph-phone can t-turn int-to a j-jet pack. I c-can adjust the s-settings.”

Mia blinked at that, “That...sounds a bit overkill...but hell! Let’s try it.”

“Guys,” Sans interrupted them, “The stove will work fine. You just need a match, so please down burn down our apartment.”

The two girls actually looked disappointed but mumbled a fine.

While Mia and Alphys were boiling the water, Sans gave you a weird look.

“Not that I don’t trust your judgment, kid, but are you sure she can help you?”

Normally, you’d get mad if someone said that but one: Sans hardly knew Mia outside of a visit once or twice and two: Mia’s entrance was a bit outlandish for the situation.

“S-She gets sporadic when she’s worried. It’s normal,” you reassured him but your voice was quiet. You wrapped the weighted blanket around you and laid down on Lizzy’s knees. You tried releasing your tense muscles while Lizzy brushed your curls out of your face.

“Here,” Mia bent down and tried to give you a mug but another crack burst through the sky. Your fear streaked through your body and you recoiled.

“Come on,” she made her voice gentle like talking to a child, “It’s peppermint tea. It’s good for you.”

With shaking hands, you grasped onto the grey mug and brought it towards you. You feel warmth flowing through your fingers and it streamed through your body when you took a sip. Your stiff neck started to loosen.

Mia smiled, “Good, keep drinking before it gets cold.”

You did so.

Another strike of electricity filled the air, you didn’t jump as hard as before but it still hurt your ears.

Mia snapped her fingers, “Shit, I almost forgot. Here,” she handed you a pair of earbuds and you graciously put them in. It didn’t block out everything but the noised weren’t so raw.

Lizzy quirked an eyebrow, “Wait a minute, what happened to yours?”

“Lost them.”

She rolled her eyes dramatically, "Of course."

You tapped at your half empty cup, nervously. You didn’t like how everyone was staring at you. Thankfully, Alphys and Undyne soon went off to read a manga together and Papyrus was working on a knitting project. However, Sans just kept on staring. He looked like he was trying to puzzle something together. There was no way he didn’t see you as disabled by now, or at least weak.

_Pathetic. Can’t stand a little thunder and lightning. What a crybaby! No wonder he thinks your just a child._

_Maybe if I-_

_No, you can never change. You were born damaged and no amount of medication can fix that!_

_Medication….SHIT I FORGOT TO TAKE IT THIS MORNING!!!!!_

_STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID.STUPID._

You poked at Mia, gesturing for her to give you your backpack. She did and you pulled out your little pill container. You felt so naked with Sans staring at you so intently, but you couldn’t move. The muscles in your legs were numb. You took out the remaining pills and swallowed them with the tea. It went down rather odd considering the warm drink, but it did its job.

Mia could tell you were uncomfortable, so she directed the attention onto her. She clapped her hands together and leaned towards you, “Want me to do my trick?”

You sighed, allowing her to have the floor, “Sure. It’s always amusing.”

She gasped in fake offense, “Chica, it is not amusing. It’s magic.”

That gots Sans’s attention, though he looked skeptical, “Magic?”

“I come from a long line of fortune tellers back in Venezuela,” Mia explain, “It’s not like the magic you monsters use,” she flicked one of the tiny spears, “It’s more-”

“A slide of hand trick?” you suggested.

Your roommate huffed, “That’s magic tricks. Not tarot reading. It’s more superstition, to be honest, but sometimes its right. It’s something you don’t know if it’s true like ghosts.”

Sans’s face was unreadable, “...you mean faith based?”

“Exactly,” Mia smiled, “Maggie loved this stuff, though she will never admit it.”

Lizzy smirked at you, “Oh? So you’ve been doing crystal balls and ouija board bs with your bestie but you won’t watch the Conjuring with me??”

Your cheeks pinked and you bit your lip.

Lizzy merely laughed and pulled you into tighter, “Don’t worry, big sis. I won’t make you watch it now. This little trick of your sounds fun though, Mia.”

Mia pulled out a stack of very old cards.

_Wow, that's her real set!_

You hated to admit it but you were a bit out of a superstitious nut yourself.

Mia shushed everyone as she shuffled the desk. She turned to Sans first and asked, “You game?”

“Why the hell not?”

Mia smiled and split the desk, “Pick four cards. Don’t look  at them.”

Sans did as he was told. She took the cards he plucked and put them in a shape of a diamond. Mia took a breath before slowly flipping each the cards over and studying them. Each of the cards had a picture of something medieval. After a few minutes, she looked up at him.

“Okay, so this is kinda sorted into four categories: Career, Health, Finances, and Romance. Each meaning of the card is determined by the symbols and the direction of the card,” she held up a tiny book, “I’ve memorized the meanings. I’m just explaining is so I don’t sound like I’m bsing this.”

Sans rested your skull in his palm while she explained, “Alright, what does it say ol’ wise one?”

Mia rolled her eyes, “It says your finances and career path are a bit of a struggle due to circumstances out your control, but your romantic life and health seem optimistic. The main force that will determine your future it faith, which seems to be something you presently lack.”

His face was a mask for a few minutes before snorting and looking away, “Sounds pretty vague to me, but I get the point. Cool trick.”

Mia just stared at him for a minute, like she was catching something you were missing. She muttered something in Spanish before turning to you, “Alright, Chica. Your turn.”

You did as Sans had done and after a minute, Mia read them to you, “What a surprise. Your health and career path are weaker due to lack of certainty in yourself. Sounds like anxiety to me,” she smirked, “Your financial path seems uncertain at the moment too. Your romantic life has some optimism. What will affect you most is self confidence.”

You blushed. You always got a different reading from her but this one was hitting the nail on the head. You already knew your anxiety would affect some parts of your life dramatically.

_But what about romance...it’s not like there’s anyone who feels that way for me. Maybe this game is just-_

Another crack flared through the sky. This time you stiffed but didn’t hide for cover. You held your blanket tight and counted to ten. The earbuds had helped enormously. When you looked up, “I’m fine,” you said defensively. You knew they were just worried but you weren’t made of glass. You drank more of your tea and then laid down on Lizzy’s lap again.

“Your turn, Liz.”

Lizzy took four cards and Mia read them. Mia’s face went pale and she didn’t talk for a long time.

“Your cards are a little different. You don’t need to worry about finances and romances as your personality draws both of them in. Your career seems uncertain at the moment which is related to your health.”

Lizzy frowned, “What’s wrong with my health?”

 

 

You never heard the rest of what happened. The warmth of the tea and the severe weight from the blanket drew you into a deep sleep. When you woke up, it had stopped raining and Mia was gone. The electricity was on again as you saw Undyne and Papyrus playing a video game.

“Where’s Mia?”

You were still in Lizzy’s lap. You saw her face looked pensive as she answered, “She said she had things to do.”

Sans was also in the same position as he had been earlier and he also looked too serious.

_What happened? How long was I out?_

You hesitated before asking, “...Is everything alright?”

Sans’s expression changed into his casual smile. You had a hunch it was fake.

“Everything’s fine, kiddo,”

You weren’t pleased with that response. Lizzy gripped on to you tighter. You looked up. Her face was pale and her eyes sad.

“Maggie, think we can have a sister bonding night?”

You blinked, “O-of course.”

_Somethings wrong. I know it. Why are they keeping me in the dark?_

You grabbed your belongings and gave your farewells. Undyne and Papyrus presumed to hug you against your wishes and you gave Alphys a high five. Sans looked like he was in a trance about something, so you just waved, “Bye, Sans.”

He blinked before looking at you and relaxing, “Take care, kiddo.”

 

 

The rain was nothing more than a drizzle now. The two of you didn’t say anything in the car and it made you nervous. Lizzy always had something to say. When you got to the dorm you threw your stuff onto your desk chair.

“So you wanna watch a movie or som-”

Suddenly, your little sister assaulted you into a hug causing you to crash on the bed.”

“Whoa, what’s this all about?”, you laughed weakly, “You and Undyne both love you body slam-”

“I’m sorry.”

You paused, confused, “What are you sorry for? What’s this about?”

She started to cry. You started to slightly panic. Lizzy didn’t have a heart of stone like Mia but she was still a tough girl; she never cried.

“Mia and Sans got into a bit of a disagreement….and Mia told us about what happened in high school...I didn’t know…”

You grimaced. While what had happened had been common knowledge, Lizzy hadn’t known. She had just started middle school and was going through a rough time of her own and you didn’t want to cause more drama. You may be a wimp but you have a responsibility to protect your little sister, even if it's from some truths.

You held her close, “It’s all in the past. It can’t hurt me anymore.”

“But it does!” she up at you with big watery eyes, “That was fucked up. I knew about Jason but not about those assholes. Why didn’t you tell me?”

You petted her head, “Because you were just a kid. You were barely using a training bra. Besides, bullying, no matter how cruel, is still bullying. It is a part of school. It happened to everyone.”

“But not on that level!!!

You shushed her, “Oh, come on. It could’ve been worse. I could’ve been stalked and kidnapped by a doll on a tricycle and forced into games of life or death.”

She let out a snort and rolled her eyes. She wiped away snot and tears. Saw was one of her favorites.

“No come on, let’s watch one of your shitty horror movies that are going to make me piss my pants in fear in which you will laugh at my misery.”

See, you could be a good big sister when you tried.

 

 

Of course, she put on the Evil Dead movies. The effects weren’t great but you were so squeamish. Lizzy laughed at the stupidity of each of the characters. You weren’t that into it but it made her happy. Then your phone buzzed.

 

 **Unknown:** Maggie, it’s only a matter of time till you come back. Arent you sick of monster cock?

 

You tensed.

 

 **Unknown:** One day youll see things my way

 **Unknown:** You cant hide behind that bitch of a roommate of yours forever

 **Unknown:** Oh and say hi to lil’ lizzy.

 

...

 

...

 

**(block)**

 

 

 


	11. Delivery from hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mentions of rape and stalker and panic attacks

“He fucking WHAT?!”

You cringed at your furious roommate's roar. She was in MaMa bear mode; pissed off and craving to rip a victim limb from limb.

“Why didn’t you tell me ASAP!!?? Hell, why didn’t you call the cops????” she continued, marching up and down the room as Mia lectured You pulled your flowery comforter over your head to hide your shame.

“Lizzy was here…”I answered, “and I didn’t want to frighten her. Plus, the cops can’t do anything if its a burner.”

“Heh, like he’s got that money.”

You grimaced, “He’d got more than us.”

Mia slammed her palm against her deck, “Maggie, you're just making excuses. What if it gets worse?? What if this becomes physical? What if he’s on campus one night and hurts you? Do you have any idea what Jason could do to you???”

“Yes!” you barked back, trying to keep a wave of nausea down, “Jason already did his worse. He destroyed me, Mia. He took my dignity away from me. What’s the worse he could do???”

Mia, whose feelings were restrained by Hover Dame, broke, “He could do it again! But this time, you may not come back! Do you have any idea how much that terrifies me???”

_Mia….afraid?!?_

Mia’s anger turned to grief and you stared at her with shock. She collapsed in defeat, head bowed, “Do you remember what happened...when you were raped?”

That singular word hit you like a train and a flood of repressed memories swarmed in like a tidal wave. You...you didn’t want to remember…..you shouldn’t have to remember…

_It smelled….musky_

 

_Your hands…_

 

_Can’t move…_

_CAN’t MOVE…_

 

 

_STOP._

 

You clutched at your head, pulling at your hair as it tumbled in front of your face. You wanted Mia to stop...but she went through this too.

“I found you at home,” she whispered, “You called me. I didn’t want to believe you….but when I saw you...half bloody and bruised...and...you looked...gone.”

You stayed silent as she cried. You wanted to cry too but knew you needed to be the strong one at the moment. You just hugged her. She finally reciprocated.

“...I’ll put a report to the campus police. Maybe, I can get him banned from campus.”

Mia only nodded.

 

That afternoon, you went to the campus police station. You showed them the threatening texts and told them the basic situation. An older cop frowned as he looked through the most recent messages.

“You sure this boy isn’t looking out for you?”

You tilted your head, “What?”

“It seems your boyfriend is just concerned about you around those things,” he clarified.

You frowned and furrowed your eyebrows. You knew this was not the place to get angry. You needed their help but you wouldn’t get any from this guy.

“Ex, and he is very physically aggressive when he’s angry. I came here because he threatened someone close to me.”

He sniffed, “Probably one of those things, right? And what proof do you have that he’s any threat?”

You ground your teeth.

_Fuck you, old fart!_

You plastered a fake smile on your face, “Can I please talk to a female officer about that?”

You figured he could take a hit. The cop just shrugged and called over a plump female officer. You sat with her and explained the situation again.

 

 

 

Jason didn’t contact you at all throughout the week. It was Thursday now, which meant Sans would help you study bio. You told him he was welcome to tutor in your dorm room as you were his last person and it would be more comfortable. Mia was studying in the library anyway so you two had the room to yourselves. You were going over the four nucleotide bases of a DNA strand. You found this topic very easy.

“Awesome. You ready for that quiz tomorrow?” Sans was sitting at your desk while you sat up in your bed.

You nodded, determined, “I better.”

Sans chuckled and shrugged on his jacket, “If we’re done, I guess I'll see you-”

“You don’t have to go,” you blurted out before thinking. You hadn’t really seen anyone all week thanks to guard dog, Mia. You were kind of sick of being in your room alone.

You couldn’t read his face, but he shrugged and sat down, “Alright, kid. Got anything in mind?”

You swirled a curl as you thought, “We could just talk…”

He frowned, “Is that something wrong?”

“No!” again said too quickly, “I just..I just don’t know a lot about you.”

With was true. You had gotten to know your new friends pretty well over the last month. Papyrus was childlike but enjoyed projects ranged from mindless to meticulous. Undyne was a raging beast of a woman with a short temper but her soft spot was for Alphys and she actually went to extra mile to learn basic physic just for her. Alphys was a lot like you; shy except for the sporadic excitement for certain topics. You also learned she liked to write and to your surprise, it wasn’t just fanfiction. Alphys was writing a sweet love story as a novel. All you knew about Sans was he’s good at science and makes bad puns once in a while.

“Sorry but you’re really good at talking about things that don’t matter,” you went on to say, “I can guess you’re a very personal guy but I’d still like to get to known you.”

You looked at him and again you couldn’t read him.

_Shit did I upset him?_

“....o-only if you’re okay with it?”

He didn’t say anything and it made you nervous. You grabbed your big stuffed bunny and hugged it seeking comfort. You had a lot of stuff animals for a nineteen year old woman.

“Sorry, kid but I think the phrase I’m looking for it pot calling the kettle black.”

You blinked and looked back at him. He had a lazy smile on his face so you amused he wasn’t mad. You sighed; you knew he was right, “You’re right. You can ask, but I won’t always answer.”

He nodded, “Same.”

You scooted over and patted next to you on your bed. Sans pauses for a moment before accepting the offer. You crossed your legs criss-cross-applesauce before looking at him. You tugged your worn bunny closer.

“Let’s start easy: what’s your favorite color?”

You weren’t sure if you imagined it, but it looked like he relaxed at your too simple question.”

“It used to be blue but after seeing the sun rise for the first time, I’d say orange. Your’s?”

You smiled. It wasn’t a big accomplishment but a baby step, “Green.”

“‘Cause your Irish?”

You rolled your eyes, “Don’t make me pinch you next St. Patties. Your turn?”

He pointed to the wall of photos, “Why are you obsessed with pit bulls? You’ve got twenty picture of them.”

You giggled and hugged your rabbit, “Aren’t they just the cutest. I had a pittie growing up and she was such a sweetheart. I mean, how can you resist this big ol’ smile??”

He smirked, “Ain’t they aggressive?”

You pouted, “No! It’s the Deed, not the Bread! Pitties are just super loyal. Don’t blame them for having a bad owner. Don’t get me started on that or I won’t shut up! Mia says I become a motormouth.”

Sans tried to hide a laugh with a cough but failed.

“Speaking of, is it hard seeing creatures like dogs and cats on leashes when there are monsters like them?”

Sans took a second before responding, “A little. We had dogs and cats in the Underground but we never kept them as pets. What’s your favorite food?”

“Mac and cheese. One of the only things I can’t burn.”

Sans did laugh at that, “K-Kid, I’d be concerned if you could.”

Your ears pinked and you looked at his hand. You knew what you wanted to ask but you felt it would be rude.

“You wanna ask how this stays together?” he shook it loosely.

You bit your lip and nodded.

“The same way I do everything….”

_Wait._

“Magic!”

“God Dammit, Sans!”

He gave you one of his satisfied grins, “Alright, if we are asking about anatomy, I got one for you: what’s exactly is a menstrual cycle?”

“Uhh...where’d you learn that?” you asked puzzled.

“From you textbook actually,” he leaned in in a very ‘just us girls’ type of fashion, “Do girls really bleed from...you know?”

You cringed and pushed him playfully, “Ewww, I don’t want to give the human talk to you, dude.”

“Come on! You’re my best human gal friend I got.”

You blew a strange of hair out of your face, “Only cus I’m the only one you got.”

“But I answered your anatomy question.”

“First off you gave me a bullshit answer-”

“No need for language, kid,” he winked.

“Second!” you ignored him, “It wasn’t a question about your...nether regions. How would you like me to say “Hi Sans! So do you have a pe-”

“Yes.”

_Uh…!?_

You hid your burning face into the rabbit and let out a scream of frustration. Sans was having a ball at your reaction. You would not give him the satisfaction.

“That. Was. Rhetorical!!! Dude, I wanted to get to know you but NOT on that fucking level-SANS IT’S NOT THAT FUNNY!”

He just kept it going. You sat there trying to look mad but it must have looked like a pout as he continued. It took him a minute to compose himself.

“Are you quite finished?”

“Heh-I’m mean yes,” his voice was an octave higher because of this reaction to his litter joke, “Now you have no reason not to answer. Come on. Be proud of the machine that is your body.”

You crinkle your nose, “Can’t be proud when it likes to throw a tissy fit and scrape out my inners with a god damn spork every month I’m not cooking something in to.”

Sans tilled his skull, “Isn’t it just like pissing for you humans? The book said it was the body’s way of disposing waste.”

“It’s kind of like that if you were peeing with the consistency of chocolate fish smelling syrup...and don’t get me started on the cravings and crying and cramps. Oh my god, those are the WORSE! I feel like I’m dying.”

Sans winced, “Yikes. Uh...do the males get an equivalent?”

“Nope!” you laid back on your pillow, “Like everything else, we girls get the short end of the stupid stick.”

Sans didn’t say anything and you too got quiet. You came up with your next question...but you were afraid to ask again; not because it was rude, but…

_He never talks about it...none of them do._

“...Sans?”

“Yeah?”

You chewed on your lip and scratched your wrist.

“I won’t bite.”

“Do...Do you miss the Underground?”

Silence.

…

You sat back up. Sans’s eye sockets were empty and his smile strands. Alarm bells went off in your head.

_Oh no._

_I upset him._

_Maggie, you idiot._

_You’re always too nosy._

_You can’t keep your fucking mouth shut._

_Now, look what you did._

_He’s mad at you._

_He’s going to hate you._

_He’s going to leave._

_This is why you don’t have friends._

_This is why they never stay._

_You fuck them up._

_You. fucking. Moron!_

Your vision blurred and you bowed your head. Your heart was thumping out of control.

_No nononono. NOT NOW!_

_I will not have a panic attack._

“I’m sorry. It’s none of my business,” you managed to get out that much. You needed to get to your pills. You jumped off the bed and scurried to the sink. Your hands shook as you tried to open the bottle.

_Come on!_

Tears were pooling down to your chin as your struggle. Your breathing was becoming sporadic. You felt boney hands close around your own.

You froze.

You were so ashamed.

Sans remained silent as he unscrewed the lid, took out a tablet, and placed it gently in your open palm. You could only stare at him. You wanted him to yell in anger or laugh at your stupidity. Not...what was this? Pity? No. He wasn’t frowning. He looked...

_I don’t know._

You didn’t know what it was but it calmed you enough to take the pill. You noticed Sans was rubbing circled on your shoulder blade. After a while, your breathing slowed and your hands stopped shaking. Sans guided you back to your bed and sat you down. He placed the bunny in your arms and you hugged it tightly.

“It’s not like it was a bad place.”

You looked up in shock. You hadn’t expected him to answer.

“It was cheery for the most part. We had a system that monsters were happy with. We celebrated holidays. We had jobs with equal pay. We could meet for game night without worrying if our friends would make it home okay. Monster kids could go to school without being shot at. The closest thing we had to a gang was the ol’ lady’s book club and some brats looking for trouble. We lived in peace.”

He looked you dead in the eye, “But we weren’t free. Our cells merely were pretty but it was still a prison. I watched so many monsters corrode to dust after they lost hope.”

_Oh._

You looked away, shame crawling up with back and Sans held your chin, drawing it closer to him.

“Don’t you dare feel shame for something you didn’t do, sweetheart.”

You felt your cheeks warm to pink from his demand and the heart did a little pitter patter at the new nickname.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door followed by “RA”

You jumped a little but made your way to the door in one piece. You opened it to see your RA. She told you a pizza delivery man was waiting for you at the front desk. You frowned, “I didn’t order anything.”

You turned to Sans, who raised his hands and shrugged, “Don’t look at me.”

“I think he said someone ordered it for you,” the RA went on to say, “Mind seeing if you know the person?”

Part of you wanted to say no, but you bend in defeat and followed her with Sans act your heels. The dude looked like he was sixteen and, just like the Ra said, had a pizza in his hand.

“Hey, are you Maggie Murphy?”

You nodded, “Yeah, but I didn’t order anything.”

“Yeah, your boyfriend did.”

_Boyfriend…_

“Here, the credit card belonged to a Jason Thompson. He wanted us to write a note but to be honest, it was a little weird but hey, it’s your boyfriend.”

You stiffened like a board, heart beginning to pound once more.

“He wanted me to write some lines from the “Santa Clause” song,” he handed it into your trembling hands.

It said:

 _He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good..._  
_So be good for goodness sake_

“Sorry, is that some inside joke between you two?”

….

_What the fuck???_

_WHAT_

_THE_

_FUCK???_

 

“Maggie?”

 

You lost it.

You screamed and threw the card like it was on fire. Your heart was banging out of control and your breathing was uneven.

_He’s watching me._

_How is he watching me?_

_Why???_

_I broke it off!_

_Why won’t he leave me alone???_

_What did I do wrong?_

You were on the floor gasping for air. The RA and pizza boy tried to get closer, but you just screamed again and tried swatting at them.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” you wailed backing yourself into a corner.

Sans was sitting on the floor across from you like he was approaching a stray dog. He showed you his palms.

“Hey, Maggie, it’s okay,” he whispered as if to a child, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

You stared at him wide eyed, clutching at your throat. You must’ve looked like a cornered animal.

“I’m going to help you. Can I?”

You didn’t move. Your vision was getting blurry.

He crawled forward and slowly placed a hand on your shoulder. Suddenly, a warm pressure went through your body. It was like your weight blanket a lot. Your muscles relaxed into the pressure and you allowed yourself to lean against the wall and close your eyes.

  


When you opened them again. The old officer from earlier was there talking to the  RA. Sans was shaking you gently.

“Hey there, space cadet,” his smile looked forced, “This cop just wants to ask you a few questions.”

He helped you up and walked over to the old officer. The man looked at the two of you and narrowed his beady eyes.

“I remember you. You’ve got that boyfriend who trying to get you away from that,” he pointed at Sans.

Your frown deepened.

“Well, it seems he may be creepy but it's not a threat so there isn't anything we can do about it.”

Your eyes flared in rage.

_Not a threat….NOT A THREAT!?_

“Fine,” you spun on your heels, heading back to your room. You’ve just been humiliated and were not going to risk shouting at this pig.

“Maggie, wait!” the RA called, “Let me call the overnight psychologist. You just had a panic attack. They can be very scary.”

“Thank you, but no thanks,” your words were a bit clipped in your fury, “I have a pre-existing condition that causes me to get panic attacks all the time. I can deal with it.”

You didn’t wait for a response as you ran into your room and screams into a pillow. You didn’t notice Sans walking in and placing a blanket over your shoulders. You just rocked back and forths for a few minutes till your anger drained to weariness.

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, “I shouldn’t have asked you to stay, Sans.”

“Don’t be. I’m glad I was here, to be honest. I don’t feel you should have gone through that alone.

You clung to the blanket tighter. Sans hesitated but sat down next to you. He looked really worried and confused behind that permanent smile.

“Mind letting me in what's going on?”

You breathed out, “My ex boyfriend, Jason has been harassing me over text for the past year. A week ago, it turned to stalking. He threatened Lizzy when she was here. I tried going to the police but there is nothing they can do.”

Sans was silent as you presumed he was digesting this information.

“I-I'm scared, Sans. I’m scared to leave my dorm. I’m worried about Mia and you all. I’m scared he’ll hurt me or one of you. I’m just not strong enough to do anything.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

Sans sounded angry and you tensed, “I never took him seriously till a week ago and I didn’t want to worry you. I can deal with a few insults just...not this.”

“Is that why I haven’t seen you all week.”

You nodded giving your knees to your chin.

"Do you think he would physically harm you?"

"Yes."

“Do you have jewelry?”

You blinked.

“Uh..what?”

“Jewelry that you’ll wear all the time like a necklace or rings?”

You were so confused. How’d you go from stalker to your bling? “I have a pair of earing.”

“Can I see them?” he gestured with an open palm.

“I..uh...sure?” you got up and plucked them out of your tiny jewelry box. You never really wore much jewelry as you fiddled with them too much, “Here.”

Sans closed his hand and his eyes. He looked like he was concentrating. There was a faint blue glow emanating from the empty space of bones. A minute later, he handed them back to you.

“Here. Put them on,” you did as you were told. Your holes hurt a little from the lack of use. The earrings had just been simple cheap tiny pearls but now they had a blue sheen.

“If you ever feel unsafe, tap one of the earings three times. It’ll work as a beacon for me to find you if you're in harm. Don’t worry, it only works if it is triggered.”

You looked up at him, eye full of tears. Sans started to panic, “Oh no. What’s wrong? I-”

You flung yourself at him into a bear hug, crying garbled thank yous. After a minute, he hugged back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. It's exam time so I don't have a lot of time to write.


	12. Scary movies and cuddles

Fall had settled in. The leaves had begun changing from greens to yellows, reds, and oranges. Halloween was tomorrow and you were excited. It was actually one of the good memories you had with your Dad before he left. He used to go all out for the holiday. Even though he’s gone and most of your memories of him were tainted, you never allowed your memory of the holiday to get tarnished mostly because the rest of them could suck it. Thanksgiving and Easter were your nightmares come to life; one being a day to remind you how messed up your family was and the other of how psycho your grandparents’ religious beliefs were being shoved down your throat. New year’s varied on how lonely you were, Valentine’s Day was just gross, you weren’t old enough to celebrate St. Patrick’s day like you want to, and you weren’t patriotic enough for the 4th of July. That just left Halloween, where you could dress you and eat as much candy as you want. Lizzy and you used to watch the old Halloween classics like “Charlie Brown” and “The Nightmare before Christmas”. Sometimes when you two were up for cheesy nostalgia, you popped on the Disney channel movies like “Halloween Town”. They always gave you a good laugh at how outdated they were. Last year, you spent Halloween alone. Mia had gone to a party. Halloween fell on a Friday this year so you assumed that it would be the same deal. That was until you got a text from Undyne.

 **Undyne:** Hey NERD! We’re having a costume party on Friday. You doing anything?

 **You:** Just watching Halloween movies.

 **Undyne:** Get your butt over here tomorrow night! Don’t forget to dress up but nothing too sexy XD

 **You:** When do I ever.

 **Undyne:** Awww COME ON!! It’s Halloween. Don’t you human girls dress like a sexy firefighter or a cat for the guy you like

You flushed.

 **You:** There is no one I like.

 **Undyne:** Suuuuuuuure you don’t ;)

 **Undyne:** I bet if you asked him to kiss you, he’d be all over it. Ten bucks. What’s say you?

 **You:** I’m not taking that bet. I know what you're trying to do and it’s not happened.

 **Undyne:** Your no fun!

 

 

You were practically skipping to bio on Friday. Once it was over you could start getting ready. You loved dressing up. In truth, you and Mia had always wanted to do cosplay but neither of you had the budget. Sans was staring at you like you had three heads.

“What’s up with you? You're never happy about bio.”

You twirled around dramatically, “I just really like Halloween. No amount of Dr. Hans is going to ruin that for me!”

He chuckled, “Guess you’re excited about tonight?”

“Absolutely!” you cheered, “Aren’t you?”

He shrugged, “I guess. Your human holiday’s sure are strange. Are silly pumpkins  and plastic masks really suppose to scare ghosts away?”

“That’s the old Halloween,” you waved a hand dismissively, “Nowadays it's been so over commercialized that it’s just for fun. Do kids come by the apartments? I know some do at other schools.”

“No clue. Pap's got candy just in case.”

“If, not I’ll take it off your hands,” you were a giggly mess.

Sans rolled his eyelights at you.

After a few minutes, you parted ways and entered class. Dr. Hans was glaring at you the entirety of class, but you just smiled your stupid smile at him. That seemed to annoy him even further to your delight. Jay was smothering a snicker the whole time. 

 

You had decided to make your costume out of some things from Goodwill, Walmart, and Mia’s closet. You wanted to go as Molly Carpenter, a character from this book series you were reading called The Dresden Files. She had a very goth punk style.You thought it was so different from your own attire, that it would at least be seen as a costume. Mia had some clothes fitting that description; she liked to experiment. From Goodwill, you bought a white shirt that you painted “Splatercom!!!”, a dark purple skirt that you ripped to shreds, and a pair of black, worn combat boot. You borrowed a pair of fishnet tights, some jewelry, and a black leather jacket Mia owned. It was a few sizes too big for her which meant it fit you perfectly.  You’d gotten cheap pink and blue hair paint sprays from Walmart.

“I think that's the closest to slutty I’ve ever seen you,” Mia commented putting on her own costume from Walmart. She was dressed as one of those sexy ladybugs were it looked more like lingerie than anything.

You eyed her, “At least you can’t see my butt if I lean down.”

“You sure?” she played with the ratty ends of your skirt.

“I’m wearing volleyball shorts underneath, okay?” you said defensively. Lizzy had left them last time she was over and said you could borrow them.

Mia just snorted applying lipstick, “Whatever. You look like me in high school...except for…”

_Oh no._

“Pleeeeease let me do your hair and makeup!” she pleaded.

You eyed the clock, “Isn’t Jack supposed to be here in a half hour?”

“Maggie, chica, I’ve been wanting to straighten your hair for YEARS and you never let me go all emo on your face before. If you're going to look goth, do it right! Plus none of the good parties start till ten.”

You begrudgingly agreed. You would’ve had no idea what you would be doing so you were glad for the assistance. Mia laughed psychotically as she heated up her straightener and started brushing your hair...your nightmare. With expert hands, she went to work.

One painful hour later, she presumed herself done. You couldn’t recognize yourself. Your freckles had been replaced with a flawless canvas. Your eye looked much bigger due to the smokey eye, winged liner, and falsies: you’d never worn them before so it felt weird. Your lips were matt black and your full eyebrows were filled in. The most shocking part was your hair. You were too lazy to ever straighten it before so you never knew how long your hair was. With it curly, it reached your shoulder alright but straight it fell to the middle of your back. The ends were naturally lighter than the rest of your hair so they were sprays pink and blue on either side of your head. It was more like the new Harley Quinn but you had dark hair so you worked with what you got. Mia pulled them into high pigtails to shorten the length. She pulled you away examining her artwork before smirking.

You bit your lip, “What?”

“I’m thinking if that numbskull doesn’t admit his feeling, I will.”

You rolled your eyes, “Not you too.”

“Oh shut it. Mamá knows all...well most,” she tapped her chin, “like does a skeleton have a dick...”

You flushed red and looked away. Mia gasp, “No way! Oh my god, you have to tell me how you found out! I bet it’s only there when he’s horny. Did you find out by feeling something poking you in the thigh-”

“Ack!” you covered your ears and shook your head, “Mia, no!”

“Mia, YES” she teased and playfully hugged you, “My lil’ Maggie all grown up!”

She started singing a song from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, “ _There may be something there that wasn't there before~”_

“Sh-Shut up!” you whined.

 

The two of you left for the bus to the apartments together. Even though Mia was only in a red and black corset and tiny tutu, she strutted in her black heels with confidence. Any time an asshole whistled or catcalled at her she simply gave them the finger; not even sparing them a glance. You were a little self conscious of your chest, mid drift, and legs being so visible but you yourself:

_If Mia can be confident in something like that, I can be fine with mine._

The bus driver gave you two a look then rolled his eyes.

Mia sat down and text Jack that she was on her way. You glanced at her, “You’ll let me know if you need anything, right?”

She looked at you, may be surprised that you were making sure she was safe, “Of course, but it’s just Jack and couple friends from the poli sci department so don’t worry your pretty little head, Chica. Your girl’s good.”

You separated once you reached the apartment. You climbed the stairs, adjusted your skirt. It was at a flirty length so you weren’t used to the open skin. It kind of excited you too. You knocked on the door.

Sans opened it. He was wearing Papyrus orange hoodie with the words ‘Cool Dude’ on it, “Hey, we just-whoa.”

He looked like he’d been hit by a bullet. His body stiffened and his eyelights were pinpricks. He just stood there for a long while. You felt your cheeks warm, but you were determined to keep your head high. That didn’t keep one of your hands from playing with a ribbon of the skirt.

“So..you going to invite me in?” you asked with an much confidence as you could muster.

“SANS, IS THAT THE TINY HUMAN? INVITE THEM IN, YOUR BEING RUDE.”

Sans stepped to the side to let you in, without saying a word. You walked by him and saw his breathing was ragged. You looked at him concerned, “Sans, are you feeling alright?”

“I’ma…,”he cleared his throat, “Yeah, I’m terrific, sweetheart.”

_There’s that nickname again._

Your heart did a little flip.Still, you thought he was lying but if he wanted to lie, that was on him. You nodded and went to greet everyone else.

“Hey, PUNK YOU-” Undyne looked up and down you and then leaned your head back into a belly laugh, “Dude, I thought I told you not to dress you sexy!”

You looked down at yourself, “What?? The length is school appropriate.”

“School appropriate!?” that just made her laugh harder. You pouted but checked out her’s and Alphy’s costumes. You realized they were matching. Undyne was Tuxedo Mask and Alphys was Sailor Moon.

“Awww, you two are adorable.”

Alphys blushed and hit behind Undyne’s cape. Papyrus came into the room in full battle armor and his red scarf.

“Whoa, Paps, are you a knight?”

He pounded his chest proudly, “I AM A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD. THEY’RE NOT AROUND ANYMORE BUT I WAS CLOSE TO BEING A MEMBER, RIGHT, UNDYNE?”

Undyne smile, “ABSOLUTELY! You were an awesome training partner, especially in the kitchen.”

You couldn’t help but laugh cheerfully.

 

It turned out kids had been coming since 5 pm. There were a couple more over the next hour. The kids were so funny. One of them looked Papyrus dead in the eye and said his skeleton costume was pretty good but he’d seen better.

They had ordered pizza and you graciously devoured it. You couldn’t help it, you’d been so excited you hadn’t eaten all day.

Soon board games came around. Monopoly was chosen. You were the tiny dog piece for the game. You never realized how intense this game could get. Sans and Undyne ganged up against you and you saw your little doggy being thrown in jail a lot.

“You guys are mean,” you pouted.

“You won’t learn anything if we go easy on you, punk,” Undyne had forced you to sell your last railroad. You were nearly bankrupt. On your next roll, you landed on of Sans’s houses.

_Shit!_

You looked at him and you knew he noticed. He got a malicious grin on his face. If he called you to pay the fine, you’d be out. Sans looked at you to most likely gloat and you gave him your best puppy dog face. You had no idea if it would work; Sans was a tough nut to crack..well usually. He’s grin lost some his enthusiasm.

“Sans, your turn.”

He looked at you...and didn’t call you out. He played his turn pretending not to notice. Undyne did notice.

“DUDE! You could’ve gotten Mags out.”

“Sorry,” he picked up one of his railroad, “Guess I wasn’t thinking on the same train of thought.”

You giggled and Papyrus glared at him.

Alphys and Papyrus were being nice to you too, ignoring if you landed on their property. Undyne, on the other hand, showed no mercy. When you landed on a particular expensive property, she stretched her hand out.

“Pay up.”

You tried the puppy dog face on her too. Usually, you have a baby face so you can get away with things easily. You had no idea how it looked with several layers of makeup. Apparently, not well as she just smirked.

“That ain’t gonna work on me, missy.”

You sighed and paid. You were out.

You sat back and watched the rest of the game unfold. You’ve never seen how Monopoly ends. You never had enough friends to play it before. Sans ended up winning second to Undyne.

“Know any _scary_ Halloween movies, punk?”

“-that are appropriate,” Sans added.

You thought for a minute, “There are these stop motion movies…”

“Any good ones?”

You didn’t think they’d take kindly to “Nightmare before Christmas” or “Corpse Bride”. You went through them in your memory.

“There’s Coraline. It’s only PG but I will admit it’s a little scary. No gore or sex, just scary imagery.”

Sans turned to Papyrus, “What’s it about?”

“It’s kind of like Alice in Wonderland but with a darker edge. A kid doesn't like her life and she comes across a door that takes her to the Otherworld where everything it’s brighter and better.”

“You okay with it, Pap?”

“I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NOT BE SCARED OF A MOVIE MEANT FOR BABY BONES.”

You smiled and put it on.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the first half fine. The second half definitely was a little...well, fucked up. Even though you’ve seen it several times, you got scared during the ghosts and Beldam scenes. You didn’t realize but you were clutching onto Sans’s arm. He didn’t seem to mind so you didn’t let go.

After the movie Papyrus announced he was tired and was going to bed. Sans got up, saying he needed to read him a bedtime story.

_That is so sweet._

You always saw Paps as a big child so it wasn’t a surprise to hear he still liked bedtime stories.

Undyne perked up with interest, “Gotta love Papyrus, but not that he’s asleep, we can watch a real scary movie.”

“Like what?”

Undyne shrugged, “Well, depends what you’re up for? You seem squeamish so slasher films and the Saw movies are out.”

“...no, I can handle it,” you didn’t want to ruin anyone else's fun because you were a little scared.

Undyne looked at you deadpan, “Bull.”

You grimaced. It was true you hated gory movies. You were fine with blood, it was gore that got to you.

“What about “Psycho”? That’s a classic.”

“Nah, too old school.”

“W-what a-about E-Evil Dead? Y-You love th-those, Undyne.”

“Remember; too gory.”

You thought, “What about Silence of the Lambs?”

“Huh?” Undyne must not be familiar with that one. You showed her the trailer on rotten tomatoe, “Hm, that seems good...but not scary! Scare me, goddammit! SCARE ME!”

“I heard Alien was good,” Sans walked back into the room, “You guys were talking about horror movies, right?”

“Yeah, but Maggie's afraid of gore.”

“I can close my eyes,” you suggested. You felt you were ruining everyone’s fun, “I do that sometimes when Lizzy wants to watch a gory movie together. Trust me it works.”

Undyne looked at you, unsure, “You’d tell us if it’s too much for you, right??”

“Of course,” you lied. You were determined not to spoil their fun.

Undyne hesitated but then shrugged, “If you insist, let’s get scared shitless!”

You’d never seen Alien before and was kind of nervous. Lizzy wasn’t a fan of space stuff but you knew Sans was. If he wanted to watch it, you’d stomach it. You sat between Sans and Undyne. With the four of you on the coach, you were very squished. You wanted to give Sans a little space so you leaned more towards Undyne. Unfortunately, she shoved you hard. You were so squished that you fell out of place and right into Sans’s lap. You sat back up immediately, eyes adverts and face crimson. The bitch fish had the nerve to push you away again. You sighed and tried to make yourself as consent as possible being squished into Sans’s shoulder.

You didn’t pay attention to the first ten minutes. How the fuck could you?? You were sandwiched between a bitch and ...what has Sans to you? He made you too flustered fo just another guy friend.

Before you could go down that line of thought, a scary ass scene popped on the screen.

_Wait...that was just tension?! Well, I’m royally fucked._

You did not react well to the stomach burst scenes at all. It was really grotesque. You ended up hiding in Sans’s armpit. You knew it was childish but you were really scared. You felt an arm snake around your shoulder, pulling you closer. You looked up at him. He confused you, greatly. Sans wasn’t a physically affectionate guy. You’ve never even seen him and Papyrus hug. You weren’t sure if that was a guy thing or a Sans thing. Either way, this was out of character for him.  

_Isn’t he the one always saying I'm like his kid sister?_

_Then why is he comforting me like I’m his girlfriend?_

Sans glanced down at your staring face for a minute before gently pushed your head back into his chest. You could feel thick bones pressing back into you and fell his chest rise and fall with every breath. Just like his hands, you felt the heat radiating from his magic. It was such an intimate position that instead of focusing on the bloodcurdling scream and ripping of flesh, all you could think was:

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod_

During the entire third act, your heart was beating out of control. Sans began rubbing circles on your back. He must have thought you were frightened. Soon, you pressed back into him. His warm was making you drowsy and the screams surprisingly became white noise as you passed out.

 


	13. I'm only human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: self harm and depression
> 
> (sorry exam week so this chapters short)

The next following weeks were hell on earth for you. It was right about the point of midterms so it was naturally starting to become crunch time. Papers were due and presentations presented. You had to give a speech in one of your classes and you ended up fainting out of nerves. This was also the time that could decide if you passed or failed a class. You were still concerned about your bio class even though your grade had improved since your time studying with Sans.

For most college student, that would be enough to be stressed about but you just lucky enough to have a stalker now. Apparently, something happened at Halloween because his messages started to get creepier and more frequent. Sans and Mia were trying their best to comfort you even though you insisted you’d be fine. Neither one of them let you leave the dorm alone after five. The only thing that would be worse was if Undyne found out. She would probably insist on camping outside until she throttled Jason.

Then things got even worse.

Your grades were fine and Jason was being as creepy as ever, but something changed when you got up one morning. Everything was desaturated and heavy. You felt like life had been sucked out of you from a dementor from Harry Potter and that you could fix it by eating chocolate. But no, because your depression was real and that is just fiction. That didn’t stop you from eating a ton of chocolate though. Your counselor, Dr. Gail had let it slip that chocolate was an antidepressant just like alcohol. Well instead of killing your liver you were wrecking your insulin levels. You didn’t care. You felt nothing.

“You’re going to get fat if you keep eating like that,” Mia commented one day. You had slept the day away, eating Hershey bars under your comforter.

“Go away.”

Mia frowned. She never really understood these episodes, “Maggie, I’m worried about you. You haven’t gotten out of bed all day. You need to get some sun.”

“Who cares,” you knew you sounded like an angsty teen but it didn’t matter to you. Nothing did.

“I do”, she nearly shouted, “God, Maggie? Did you even take your medicine?”

_Tipical._

Everyone, including Mia, all believed that a single fucking pill always fucking works consistanting and perfecting. You were tired of explaining the fuck ups of medication so you just sneered a “Yes.”

Mia put her hands on her hips and frowned at you, “There no need to have an attitude.”

You rolled over ignoring her.

“Maggie, stop acting like a baby and get out of bed.”

“You not my mother!” you spat back with venime. You felt like shit and you were going to stay where you were, “Don’t you have anything better to do like annoy Jack? You’re always over there so much, he’s practicing your roommate and not me. You love him so much? Go pester him instead and leave me alone.”

Mia didn’t say anything and you left guilt wash over you the moment the words left your lips. You turned to apologize but she had stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

You laid there in silence for a number of minutes. Slowing you crawled out of bed and shuffled to your sock drawer to pull out an exacto blade. You looked up at yourself in the mirror and rolled up your left sleeve to reveal deep ugly scars. You were about to cry so you added another to the miserable collection with a slash of the wrist. Warmblood seeped out of the opening and into the sink.

_There. Have a reason to cry, you moron._

Tears slid down your cheeks from the pain and guilt. It had been some time since you cut and you weren’t used to the pain anymore. You didn’t just cut because of the empty hole left from depression. You also cut as a way to punish yourself: a permanent reminder that you hurt someone seems to get the point across better than anything else. You weren’t a masicus; you just felt so guilting.

_I don’t know._

_Maybe I am fucked up._

 

You called Mia and immediately apologized. She forgave you but you weren’t sure if she was just being polite. You still hated yourself.

You tried to distract yourself with schoolwork and keeping yourself busy. You soon relieved your depression was turning to the other extreme. You were working yourself so much that you didn't’ eat at all. You started to fall back into the habit of cutting over the following weeks. You just felt you weren't doing your best; that you could do better. You soon saw you couldn’t fall asleep. This time Sans noticed.

“Maggie, when was the last time you ate?”

You stared at him with strained eyes. You had been studying...what were you studying...english? No. Sans teaches you bio.

“Uh...What’s today?” In truth, it had been Sunday after church.

He took the textbook away from you, “I know the cafeteria is bad, but it’s not healthy for you to go on strike. How about we take a break and hit up Grillby’s? Come on, you seemed to like it.”

It was true. Your mouth began to water when remembering Grillby’s juicy burger. You bit your lower lip, “...I really should just stud-”

“Sweetheart, you’ve been studying nonstop. Take a break.”

You chuckled at the unintentional Hamilton references and gave a shy smile. You let your book slide out from under your fingers and leaned forward to rest your head on Sans’s shoulder. You were too tired to fight. He stiffened at first before pulling you closer. You closed your eyes and held your breath for his little shortcut. After a minute, you felt the cold shower rush over you and you appeared at the familiar pub. A few of the usual crowd was there and greeted you cheerfully. You simply gave them a polite smile. Grillbys nodded at the two of you and threw two burgers on the grill. You started to go there any time you had some extra cash with Sans so the bartender knew what you liked.

You tapped onto your glass of water as you waited. For once, you weren’t nervous that Sans was staring. You didn’t have enough energy to care.

It was karaoke night and a set of dog monsters were singing a duet. They weren’t bad at all. The musics helped lessen the numbness.

“So,” Sans started, “Fall break is coming up. Guessing you’re going home.”

“No,” you said flatly, “Not welcomed.”

“What about Lizzy? It’s been awhile since she’s seen you.”

You didn’t say anything. You didn't’t want Lizzy to see you in your episode. You knew you weren’t your best self. In fact, you hated seeing anyone like this. You were never good at hiding your emotions. You took a sip of your drink and decided to tell a white lie.

“She’s involved in homecoming that week so she’ll be too busy.”

Sans didn’t seem to be falling for it, “Not that I am a wiz of human high schools but didn’t homecoming take place a month ago.”

You stayed silent before plastering a half smile, “Guess their school has it late.”

Sans continued to frown, “Or are you avoiding her?”

Sans seemed to always be able to read you like a book. Grillby's places a plate with your burger on it. It smelled divine but you didn’t have an appetite. You simply played with the edge of the lettuce hangout out.

“Sweetheart,  you’ve been avoiding everyone lately. I know it’s a busy time in the semester but most of us haven’t seen you since Halloween. Undyne keeps whining about losing her workout buddy and Papyrus misses you greatly. Are you mad at us?”

You pinched in inside of your thigh. You wished you had your knife. You felt so bad for making you friends miserable.

_Pathetic._

_Waste of space._

_Terrible._

_Weak._

_Failure._

_Good for nothin-_

“No!” you pinched harder, “I’m just...going through some stuff at home.”

You hated lying but it was easy to do so when you were depressed. People never understood when you said you felt so empty. They just say “You’re just sad. Get over it.”

Sans gently grabbed your hand that was attacking your thigh. He flipped it over and started tracing the lines in your palm. Your baggy sleeved fall down a little and you snatched your hand away before he could see your self harm scars and the newer slashes.

He frowned, “Maggie..”

You folded your arms and hunched over. You knew you were causing your friend pain but he’d hate you if he knew the whole truth.

_Worthless._

“You know I’d usually leave you alone and let you solve this problem on your own but you're not taking care of yourself. Do you realise how much weight you lose?”

You shrugged half heartedly, “I needed to lose some anyway.”

“Not like this,” he whispered to you.

You wanted to get mad at Sans. It was none of his business so why was he sticking his nonexistent nose in it?

“Is it because of your ex?” he asked his voice cracking, “ Maggie, if I knew where this asshole was I would beat the shit out of him just to see you smile again. If I could just locate him and take all your worries away. If only I could-”

That struck you like an arrow.

_He blaming himself? No. Nononononono._

_You didn’t want that to happen._

_Why does he care so much about me?_

_I’m nothing._

_I’m worthless._

_Garbage._

“Sans, it’s not that,” this time you grabbed his hand. You ignored the way your heart went thump thump from the warm buzz of magic, “I-I’m just...I get…”

You jumped at the sound of a drunk dog monster falling back and breaking a chair. He and his companions laughed. They helped him up and the lot of them walked out. Suddenly, it was just you, Sans, and an old turtle monster who was making his way to the door.

_Why the fuck is this place suddenly empty??_

Your heart was thumping loudly in your throat. You weren’t scared, so you were confused why it was beating so fast.

Sans was waiting for you to continue.

_Dammit, just tell the poor guy and get it over with._

You were terrible with words and they got jumbled in your mouth, “I’m just...episodes...stuff like...you know?”

“Uh, what?”

You bit your lip and looked at Grillby for help. He gave none. You had an idea. You got up and went to the  machine and scrolled over song names.

_Maybe someone else can say it better._

You found one. You started it as you scrunch your eyes tight and looked at the floor.

_Pretend you're alone._

“...I can hold my breath,” you breathed in, “I can bite my tongue. I can stay awake for days if that’s what you want. Be your number one.”

_This is stupid._

“I can fake a smile. I can force a laugh. I can dance and play the part. If that’s what you ask. Give you all I am.”

You started to get nervous, “I can do it. I can do it...I can do it….”

You looked up into Sans eyelights, fist clench, “But I’m only human...and I bleed when I fall down. I’m only human...and I crash and I break down. Your words in my head, knives in my heart. You build me up and then I fall apart...'Cause I’m only human, yeah…”

You looked away for the rest of the song. You always took this song to mean you couldn’t handle your depression. He always tried to make you feel great about yourself...but you absolutely hated yourself. Each complement was beating at you. You hoped he was getting that message.

_Weak._

_Pathetic._

“I’m only human...I’m only human...Just a little human!” you knew you were starting to cry, “I-I can take so much...until I’ve had enough.’Cause i’m only human…”

You didn’t even finish the song. You felt your knees buckle under you. You didn’t see Sans move but he caught you nonetheless as you balled into his jacket.

“I-I just f-feel so cold and empty,” you cried, “I-I didn’t m-mean to h-hurt anyone.”

“I know. Shhh,” Sans cradled you, “It'll be okay. What’s that human saying...ah: This too shall pass.”

“B-But what i-if-”

“It will,” he resurred, combing your hair with his fingers.

You felt so safe like that, in his arms and for the first time in many weeks, warmth and cheer filled your soul for a moment.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Human" (c) Christinia Perri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5yaoMjaAmE


	14. ***Authors notice***

Sorry folks. No chapter this week (as of the 18th-19th). I was sick this week and couldn't write. I'll give ya'll a longer chapter next week.  
Promise. Thank you for being patient.  
-KMO


	15. And back to drawing board (or gym)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the thoughtful comments concerning my health. I was feeling a lot better but my sibling caught something going around their school and gave it to me. As of right now, I'm much better; just a cough and a runny nose. I was hoping to give you all a much longer chapter but I'm going to have to split it into two. Sorry guys.

After your emotional breakdown in front of Sans, you decided to set up a well needed appointment with Dr. Gail. You had just then realized that you forgot to set up another appointment with her last time you spoke. Your doctor upped the dosage of the antidepressant you were taking and pushed that you went back to working out with Undyne. Your fish friend was very grateful for this.

“C’mon, you DORK!” Undyne hauled you to your feet, “All those sweets have turned you into jelly. We had a months work to do in an hour. UP!”

You groaned and rolled over on the mat, “Just let me be fat.”

“You’re weak, not fat. Big difference.”

“Not really,” your words were muffled by the mat you were laying face down now.

“UP YOU GO!” Undyne pulled you up by one ankle and you squeaked.

It was like that for the next week. You hated every second of it but you had a lot more energy than the previous week. You already felt stronger and healthier than you were during your episode. The new dosage was also taking effect by now and was allowing you to remain more stable.

The cutting started to cease to...but not before Mia found out. She saw the new wounds once after you showered. You weren’t able to put on your sweater before Mia came in the room. You knew you were dead by the spears of fire in her eyes.

“What.”

She slammed the door.

“The.”

Mia ripped off your towel so see your arms and legs covered too deep red lines.

“FUCK!? MAGGIE!”

She started screaming at you in Spanish. You thought she was going to split her skull into a furry mass of destruction. Mia just kept going. You were afraid she was going to start breaking things. Instead, she stomped out of the room with the door banging behind her. About five minutes later you got a call from Lizzy.

“Maggie, I just got off the phone with Mia. She couldn't stop swearing in Spanish.”

You winced. You knew where this was going. At least it could be comprehensible.

“Mags, what the fuck! You almost reached your six month mark. How could you rebound like that??”

“I-I just-”

Lizzy started to cry, “Goddammit, you big fucking idiot! Why don’t you ever talk to people when you have shit! Just one person! It doesn’t have to be me or Mia. It could be your doctor or a bartender or….fuck just talk to me!”

“I’m sorry…” your voice was quiet.

“Mags, it breaks my heart to hear you do that. Do you know how many nightmares I’ve had of you dying on me by bleeding out? What if you hit a vain? What if-”

“Liz, I’m not suicidal,” you forced a smile in your voice, “Dude, I’m going to be fine. Mia was over just reacting. I was just going through a rough spell there. I’m better now.”

“...”

“...I talked with Sans and he convinced me to go back to therapy.”

“...”

“A-and I’m working out again. I’m eating better. My grades are great...Lizzy, you have no idea how sorry I am.”

“....”

You clenched your jaw, “Liz, talk to me. Yell at me. Do something. Say something…”

“...”

She snorted…

_What wait?_

“That numbskull sure does like you, big sis.”

Your face heated up, “What? No. No. You're not doing this. We're having a serious conversation...and it's nothing like that."

“Mmhm.”

By that tone, you could tell you were out of the dog house for now.

“I’m like a sister to him. His nickname for me was 'kid' for the longest time for crying out loud.”

“Was?”

Your ears were warm, “Yeah...actually he hasn’t called me that since Halloween...I wonder why?”

“What? Did he switch it to honey or babe or...come on! Through me a bone.”

Your face darkened, “Well…”

“Well???”

“He...sometimes calls me sweetheart.”

You jerked the phone away from your ear from the scream, “OMG! I KNEW IT! I told you, Mags, but noooooooooooooooo you have to be as dense as a brick wall.”

“Come on, it’s just mindless flirting…,” you paused, “right?”

_Why would he be interested in me?_

_I'm nobody._

“Well, do you like it? I mean, if you took it seriously.”

Did you? “Well...I-I just...I mean..uh..I might...I-I don’t know...yes?”

“Woooow! You’re so in denial, little Maggie.”

“Little?! I’m older than you, twerp.”

 

A week later, you were at the gym with Undyne and she asked you about North Bridge Trial. It was an old national trail that ended at a massive bridge over the neighboring river. Apparently, she heard from hikers that every true athlete needed to run the 10k at least once while attending your college. Supposedly there was an entrance just a short walk outside of the school grounds.

“Let's do it.”

You quirked an eyebrow, “Hiking required good knees. Your girls’ ain't got that.”

She waved you off as you drank water from the fountain, “I heard the trail is pretty mild. Come on, it’s not like we’re in the middle of the mountains. We’re in the middle of farmland. How hard could the terrane be?”

You thought she had a point. Plus, you heard the old civil war bridge was a site of 1800s construction work. It brought out your inner nerd. Then again the distances made your feet ache.

“Oh! We should go at night. I heard the view of the sky is breathtaking.”

That too perked your interest...then again, you had a stalker at the moment and weren’t sure if going out to the middle of nowhere was the best move. However, Undyne was super strong for sure. You knew she always went easy with you.

“I don’t know..”

“We can bring lazybones with us,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “He’d get a kick out of all that astronomy and stuff. Plus, he’d totally come if YOU ask.”’’

You leaned away from the crazy fish lady, “I don’t like where this is going…”

She raced over to the punching bag and you reluctantly followed. Undyne scared off this bodybuilder fellow with her first blow to the sandbag.

“You. And. Bonehead.” she stated with each hit, “Are. Infuriating.”

You jumped as the bag hit the post that was holding it.

“God! Am I dealing with children?! Why can’t you two see you like each other already? Alphys and I have been shipping you two since the beginning. Let it sail!!”

You laughed, “Sorry to disappoint you two’s little fanfiction but-”

She stopped, “How’d you know about that??”

Your jaw dropped, “I was joking!! Don’t say it’s true!”

She started to say something but you waved your hands in front of her, “No! I don’t want to know. I will ask Sans only if you stop.”

Undyne gave the bag a victory punch and it went sailing.

_She’s like a real like Captain America. Undyne literally just ripped off the scene from the Avengers._

You looked at the broken sandbag.

“You know they're going to charge you.”

 

_Okay. You can do this._

You were on your bed looking at your phone. You hated starting conversations through this mobile device. Well, you hated starting any conversation.

_Come on. It’s just Sans._

Thump Thump.

_Ignore._

_Just one little text...no, I just probably start with hi._

**You:** Hello

_God, I feel stupid._

After a few minutes, you got a reply.

 **Sans:** hey sweetheart. whats up?

You tried to ignore the pounding in your chest.

 **You:** so Undyne and I want to hike the north bridge trail. we are going to do some stargazing and I thought you'd like to come.

…

 **You:** only if you want.

There wasn’t a reply for a while and you started to panic.

_Did I say something wrong?_

**You:** you don’t have to if you don’t want to

You saw he was typing and sat up.

 **Sans:** sure. when?

Relief washed over you.

 **You:** saturday

 **Sans:** cool. see you then

You leaned back on your bed, relieved. Then your phone buzzed again.

 **Undyne:** HEY NERD! what’s he say? It better be yes. lazy bones is never doing anything!

 **Undyne:** Let me know ASAP. I’ll shove the midget into my backpack if I have to

For some reason, Undyne was easy to text. Most likely because she took up the majority of the conversation.

 **You:** he said yes so please don't hurt him.

 **You:** and he isn’t that small.

 **Undyne:** It was a joke and he is too short. Just because he’s taller than you doesn’t make him tall. It just means your a half pint.

 **You:** I’m not short!

Before you had met monsters, you wouldn't have really been called short except around Lizzy. Not your fault the average height for monsters was higher than humans.

 **Undyne:** then convince Paps to stop calling you tiny human.

 

Saturday had been a pretty day but you figured you’d still wear your fleece jacket. It was nothing special; just something you found on sale at Walmart. You also wore workout pants and your sneakers. Your wild hair was tied back in a ponytail (you knew a bun would’ve looked like a pom pom otherwise). You packed the essentials like a water bottle and a flashlight but you also packed a first aid kit and your pepper spray. Having a stalker about can make one paranoid.

_Speaking of the devil. He hasn’t texted me for once. Thank god._

Undyne had text you early to meet her and Sans at the entrance of the trail. Sans of course wanted to walk you there, despite your protest. Eventually, you caved in. In truth, you were too nervous to go out alone, though you knew how unhealthy that was. You decided to yourself, if Jason doesn’t send another pic for three days, you’d leave the dorm by yourself; so far it had been two.

You charged up your phone while you waited for Sans. That didn’t stop you from scrolling through facebook as you waited. Yeah, yeah, not good for the battery life and stuff. You stopped at a New York Times report of another school shooting. According to the article, an elementary school that had agreed to desegregate the school lost a class of kindergarteners. It had been done by someone in the SCA, the Species Cleanings Association. They were a human supremacist group that had taken off in the past couple of years. They were the equivalent to the KKK, to be honest; terrorists. They burned down homes of monster human couples and publicly humiliated monster sympathizers. You knew they also harmed monsters on a regular daily basis, but you never thought they would slaughter a room full of five year olds.

You grimace as your train of thought went to Lizzy and her school, which was undergoing desegregation as well….

Then there was a knock at your door. You were startled and nearly dropped your phone.

“Knock knock.”

You knew it was Sans but you still sighed in relief. Your mind had been wondering into ‘what if’ domain and that’s not good for anyone.

“Who’s there?”

“Orange.”

“Orange who?”

You knew this joke but you decided to humor him.

“Orange you gonna let me in?”

You grabbed your backpack and your phone and opened the door, “No need to. I’m ready to leave.”

Sans was wearing his usual clothing choice. You started to wonder if that was just his look he was sticking to or if skeletons don’t get cold. He had no bag with him, though you assumed that if he needed anything he could take a “shortcut”.

“Awesome. Let’s start heading out.”

You followed him out the front of the building where the desk aid gave the two of you a foul look and muttered something under her breath. You don’t know what did it, maybe the article, but you were fed up with these desk aids and their shit.

 “If you got something to say, you might as well share it,” you hissed stopping in front of the desk. The women looked taken aback like you had just slapped her. Sans stopped too.  Her eyes were bulging and shifting between the Sans and you.

“I-I know whats going on here,” she whispered, “I see that thing here all the time. You better watch yourself. You saw what the SCA did yesterday. Don’t think you’ll get away with this, whore.”

You weren’t sure if you should have been angy or afraid. You decided anger as she had insulted your friend. You wanted to start screaming at this women but you knew that would get you nowhere. So you went for a more professional rotate, “EXCUSE ME?” well sort of, “HE is not a thing and I’d like to speak with your boss now.”

“I am the boss,” she said smugly.

“Well then the next one up,” you spat, “because there’s no way they’d let some half witted bumpkin have so much authority.”

Her round face went red, “My superiors hate those creatures as much as me. You keep badmouthing me, little missy, and I’ve sent you to conduct board.”

“Maggie,” Sans gave a warning tone, “It’s not worth it.”

_...No, I am not losing this._

“Well, you can tell your superior to shove it-ack!” Sans was dragging you out the front door. He didn’t stop until you were away from the building.

“Sans, what the hell?” you grumbled, more out of annoyance than anger. You knew he did the right thing.

“I was keeping you from running your mouth,” he folded his arms and frowned at you like a disappointing parent, “I know you were trying to do the right thing and stand up for me but I’m no baby bones.”

You looked down at your feet in shame. You probably embarrassed him.

_Stupid._

_Idiot._

_Selfish._

You had been running on adrenaline but with it gone, you shrank into yourself, “I-I’m sorry...please don’t be mad…”

Sans wrapped his arms around you in a reassuring hug, “It’s okay, sweetheart. I just don’t wanna see you being into any more trouble for the sake of us monsters.”

You grimaced.

_A little too late but whatever._

He pulled away and had a smug smile on his face, “A bumpkin? Really?”

You snorted, concealing a laugh, “I was trying not to swear.”

“But it made no sense.”

You shrugged, “It still bit her so I’m satisfied.”

Sans feigned shock, “Oh my god, who knew you were on the dark side?”

You smiled, “I joined for the cookies.”

 

As your walking to the trail’s entrance, you questioned where Undyne was.

“She said she’d meet us there,” he shrugged, “You know Undyne. She’s probably already there with her speed. Want me just to take a shortcut so we can meet up with her?”

You shook your head, “Not worth it. It’s like a few minutes away,” you eyed him and he looked disappointed, “Dude, if you're tired now, just you wait.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” he grumbled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“It’s over six miles,” you commented.

“It’s cute that you don’t think I’m going to cheat” he winked.

Your face flushed and you whined, “No fair!”

 

When you arrived at the entrance to the trail, you were surprised to see no sign of  Undyne anywhere. Sans and you waited almost a half hour for her

You let off a huff, “Where the hell is she?”

Sans had been on his phone, presumably texting Undyne. You waited for him to speak, but you were losing patience.

“Um…”

He abruptly stood up from the bench you two were perched on, “Alright. Let’s go.”

“Wait, what? What about Undyne?”

“Apparently something came up for her. You still want to do this?”

You shrugged, “Why not? I’ve got nothing else planned. You?”

“Same.”

 


	16. **Author's Notice**

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your suppose from you all who read my notice from the other story. I told you I'd let you know about my progress on this story by Friday. Well, it's Thursday and I barely have anything. I want this to be a good chapter, and due to sickness and other events in my life, I haven't had the time this week to sit down and write anything worth posting. I'll see you guys next week though. Stay in tune and determined!

Thanks,

KMO27


	17. Boy ya got me Helpless!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the late release and two weeks without a chapter. Works been a bitch. Thank you for being patient. This chapter was going to be longer but I decided to split it in two. See you Friday.

The trail was covered by tall pines and oaks. Since it was fall, most of the trees were covered in orange and red. It blended in with the evening sky. The path itself was human made and looked wide enough for cyclists. Sans and you were making small talk.

“You didn’t."

“Yep. I was able to stack thirty of them on the kid’s head before the dogs fell off.”

You laughed, “God, you must've gotten into so much trouble with your boss. You sure loved to have fun with Frisk down there.”

“True. They were just so easy to prank. They even fell for the old eyepiece prank.”

You rubbed your temple, “Should I be worried?”

“Nah, I’m too lazy to pull much over people anymore.”

You frowned, “Why do you keep saying that?”

Sans quirked an eyebrow, “Sorry?”

“You keep saying you're lazy but it sounds like an excuse.”

You regretted it the moment the words left your mouth. One, you didn't mean to dampen the mood and two, you didn’t mean to put him on the spot and call him out. You had no problem when it was an asshole but this was your friend.

Sans’s pinprick lights went fuzzy as if he was in a daze.

You looked down, “Forget I said that.”

“...No. You’ve got a point.”

You didn’t say anything. You both stayed quiet for a while. As it got darker, you started to think if this was a good idea. You had a stalker and you knew stoners and drunks like to hide out here from the cops. 

_ Maybe we should- _

“Look, a deer!” you pointed. You saw more actually, “Aw, there’s a fawn.”

There were a doe and a stag. The female was grazing on the grass while the male stared at you. Their kid suddenly tripped. It looked very young with knobby knees. It got back up and scurried under its mother after seeing you. You dared not move. They all stilled before prancing away.

“Are they nocturnal?”

You shrugged, “Not sure. My mom says they're all over the place at night when she visits.”

_ Or used too. _

“You talk about Lizzy a lot but you’ve never mentioned your mom before,” Sans frown, “Is it okay to ask about her or am I treading in uncomfortable waters?”

You itched your wrist, “Depends on what you want to know.”

Sans didn’t say anything for a moment, “Alright, what does she do?”

You stiffed, “I-I a..”

“I meant for a living,” he said quickly after your reaction.

“Oh!” your voice was a little high pitch, “She’s a teacher.”

“What grade?”

You have a grimace, remembering your own time at that age, “middle school.”

Sans winced too, “Yikes. I remember when Frisk was that age. Even for a good kid, they were a hand full.”

“Yeah, those pipsqueaks have burned her out,” you laughed half heartedly, “She always spends Fridays with a beer and telling us she wished we were rich and how much she wants to punch the crazy twerps and…” you realised you were getting to the darker topics at home, “and yeah.”

“Does she work in a bad area?”

You shook your head, “Not really. There wasn’t much of a problem until the redistricting. Also, she’s just getting up in age. She’s been teaching for almost thirty years. It would drive me crazy too.”

Sans looked confused, “Redistricting?”

“It’s when different types of neighborhoods are put into different school districts then they were originally assigned to. I was actually at her school when it happened. It was tough.”

“What do you mean?”

You rubbed the back of your neck as you thought of the best way to phrase the issue, “Well, you see...the economic static of the newer neighborhoods were lower and that caused a lot of...problems.”

Sans frowned, looking a little insulted, “What the hell is that suppose to-”

“Hey, you know us humans,” you tried explaining, “We hate anything with that is slightly different then what is allowed in our wonder bread utopia.”

Sans snorted, “Wonder bread? Really?”

You shrugged.

“Well, if that all was true then her school must not be taking  well to the new integration.”

“No clue,” you decided to be honest, “I know Lizzy’s school is though.”

“How come you don’t know about your mom’s?”

You stayed silent for a minute before admitting, “We’re not talking.”

You tried to make it clear that the conversation was over.

“Oh.”

Silence came over you again. In the past, they would have been uncomfortable but now you were used to being around Sans to think:  _ whatever. _

 

Night brought out chirping crickets and the croaks of bullfrogs. The sky turned from blue to orange to purple. Slowly the stars started to twinkle into existences. You looked over at Sans occasionally and saw his bones reflected the glow of the brilliant sunset to the softer shades of the moon. You thought it was kind of attractive.

The bridge was started to come into your line of sight. It was rusted red and was held together X shaped beams. As you cross, the trees were out of the way of the sky. It was a perfect clear night for sky gazing. You stopped walking in awe at the breathtaking sight. Without any light pollution, you could see Mars to Saturn shining bright. There were clusters of stars that formed thin cloud silhouettes. You were so in tune that you jumped when Sans took your hand.

“There’s a bench a little ways done,” he said, “Figured your legs may be sore.”

They were a little if you were being honest with yourself, “How can you see that far?”

In truth, you couldn’t see anything that wasn’t a few feet in front of you even with the flashlight. Turned out, it was a shitty flashlight. 

He shrugged, “Don’t know. Maybe it’s front living in the dark for my whole life.”

“What it really so dark?” you blurted out with thinking.

He didn’t seem to mind, “Depend on where you were. In Hotland, you could see fine because of the lava everywhere. Other places were illuminated by crystals embedded in the ceiling that reflected the light from our houses. Where I was, it was always covered in snow so it helped.”

You bit your bottom lip. You never knew how to feel talking about the Underground. 

“It wasn’t all bad though. You should see Waterfall. There are these flowers that glow and repeat things. It’s truly beautiful...well, nothing like this,” he smiled as he looked up.

“I’d like that.”

He grinned and took your hand again, this time not letting go. Your cheeks warmed as you looked away towards the sky. Your heart began racing again. 

_ This...this is...nice. Yeah, nice.  _

“Know any of them?”

The tilted your head, “What?”

“Constellations.”

“Oh!” you squeaked, “A few.”

You started to point at the ones you could see and remember, “There’s Pisces and...there’s Pegasus, I believe...OH! That’s Orion’s belt so that’s Orion...and uh, OH! Those are Big dipper and Little Dipper. Those stars there make the handle, see?”

“Uh huh,” San nodded.

“That bright star there on the Little Dipper is the North Star. I know it has some scientific significance but I have no clue what is,” you laughed at your own stupidity, “I do know it was the point of the old song used by slaves who fled the South.”

You had learned the song in elementary song and started humming,”...for the ol’ man is waiting’ for to carry ya to freedom, follow the drinking’ gourd…”

“You humans enslaved each other?!”

That jolted you back to reality, “A long time ago...you didn’t know?”

Sans looked truly disturbed, “Frisk never asked me for help with history and I’m not much for the subject anyway.”

You winced, “You may want to read about Jim Crow Laws and Martin Luther King Jr-”

“Wow, that’s a mouthful.”

You ignored him, “History is important. Learn from the past so you won’t repeat it. Read about it. See how people of color were and still are treated. You may find something relatable with humans.”

He didn’t say anything for a while before nodding, “That explains the book.”

“Huh?”

“The book,” he repeated, “To Kill a Mockingbird? I finished it.”

“Oh!” You sat up, “How’d you like it? Which part did you like best?”

“The second. I still don’t understand why Finch did what he did,” Sans shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back.

“Dude, he’s the most beloved father figures in books ever. Of course, he’d do that,” it was more complicated than that so you decide to go further, “In the Jim Crow South, people didn’t like looking at things in different ways but Atticus continually teaches Scout to do just that. He can also be seen as justice in the face of an unjust judicial system.”

“...I didn’t think of it that way.”

“It’s okay,” you patted him on the shoulder, “It can take a couple times to get it. But there’s a reason it’s a classic and one of my favorites. If you want, I can pull out some books with similar ideas. Too bad Harper Lee didn’t write anything else...well there’s that-but it’s not worth it. Give me a few days and I’ll find something.”

You started to ramble further, “Hmm, let’s see. I know you like space and smart things. You see to be okay with horror so you could try 2001: Space Odyssey if you haven’t seen the movie yet...but you also like comedy. Maybe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? I’ve never read it but it's supposed to be great. I can find a copy for you. The library may have it too.” 

Sans just smiles at you. It was different from the normal toothy grin he plasters on. No, it seemed genuine and...something else. You couldn’t explain it. It wasn’t threatening...what was it.

Thump. Thump.

He leaned towards you and lifted your chin, “You’re too sweet.”

Your face may have resembled a tomato, “I-I just…” you couldn’t complete your thought. You weren’t a good judge of tone but you could tell there was a shift in the atmosphere. His sockets were heavy lidded and his naval cavity was almost rubbing against your nose. You could feel warm breath on your lips.

_ Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod _

_ Is he going to- _

Yes. 

He did.

You nearly fell out of the bench. You didn’t even question the fact that he didn’t have lips; you were putty in his hands. You couldn’t remember the last time someone kissed you because they actually liked you.

_ Or is he just using me- _

_ NOT NOW. _

The kissed deepened as Sans snaked one arm around your waist. You ended up wrapped your own around his neck. You start to melt into him when suddenly you heard creaking wooden boards from the bridge. 

“Hello?”

The footsteps got closer. A flashlight blinded your vision but your blood went cold when a gruff voice said, “What the  **fuck** is this?”


	18. Everything stings

“What the  **fuck** is this?”

Once your eyes adjusted to the harsh light you saw three men and a woman. The one who had spoken was a beefy guy with a lumberjack’s beard and a thin twig looking women clinging to his arm.

Sans separated from you but gripped your hand tight as he turned to face them,  “Just two people enjoying this lovely evening.

They ignored him. The women narrowed her heavily hooded eyes, “Whash this shlut think sshhe's doin’?” She was obviously drunk. She took out her phone and started doing something. 

A bald man stepped forward and leaned down to get a look at you, “I don’t know, but it seems a waste to let her shack up with this thing.”

The third man chuckled, “Ain’t she a bit young for you, man?” 

You caught a flash from an SPC badge on the lumberjack's leather jacket.

_ Oh no. _

The bald man got uncomfortably close, “She’s probably from the school so she’s not that young. What do you say, Ryan? Recommonize her?”

A younger man stepped out of the shadows. No wonder you hadn’t seen him before; he was wearing all black and his dark shaggy hair was covering most of his face. He looked so familiar but you couldn’t pin the location of where you’ve seen him before. 

Ryan didn’t seem to care what was going on and simply shrugged and when back to playing on his phone.

“Who cares anyway; as long as I get a piece of that ass.” 

You flinched away at his words but he grabbed your chin roughly; a complete contrast to what Sans had done a few minutes before. The man's breath smelled like whiskey and tobacco.

Sans grabbed and jerked the man’s hand away. His voice was low but absolute, “Touch her again and I’ll snap your arm like a toothpick.”

The woman wrinkled her nose up, “Ew, it touched you.”

The bald man narrowed his eyes and suddenly swiped something out of his pocket. There was a zapping noise and a red flash before you saw Sans clutching his side on the ground.

“What the hell did you do?!” your voice sounded thready.

The bald man laughed and spun a little device in his hand, “This little beauty can shoot 4,000 amps worth electricity into both humans and monsters. All it needed was a little magic and bam!”

You saw he was aiming for Sans again and blocked the next blow with your own body. You have accidentally touched a broken bulbe from Christmas lights and got shocked once; this was ten times worse. Your back arched before your collapsed on your knees. Your backpack fell open as you toppled and you saw a glint of pink. It was your pepper spray. 

The bald man turned his attention to Sans, “You know these aren’t even on the shelf yet. Only members carry them but just wait a few months, animal.”

As he talked, you crawl over to your bag hoping to at least have a weapon. However, the lumberjack saw you and kicked the wind out of you.

The women laughed, “What do you think you’re doing, slut?”

You involentarly whimpered from the pain. You were still dillirusus from the stun gun and your heart was spazzing out in fight or flight instincts. 

_ Don’t panic.  _

_ Don’t panic.  _

_ Don’t panic. _

_ D o n ’ t  p a n i c _

You started to hyperventilate and the laughter grew.

“Oh, shut UP!”

You heard Sans growl, “Get the fuck away from her.”

You couldn’t see anything anymore. The laughter began to muffle. You heard a click but had no idea where it came from. You were on your side now and your legs were shaking from lack of oxygen. You were clutching at your throat too.

_ Can’t breathe. _

_ Can’t breathe.  _

_ Can’t… _

_... _

Then everything went black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter but I wanted to go back to the regular schedule and didn't have time to elaborate.   
> (foreshadowing: this chapter will be longer in Made of Stone...when I get to it.)


	19. ***Author's note***

Hey guys,

I needed to come out with it since people are eager for a next chapter. I have been on hiatus and will continue for the meantime. I am having a bit of a writer's block for this story. I truly want to finish this but I am currently writing another story weekly that I have a planned out. This was my first story and I wasn't smart enough to plan it out. One day, I plan to finish this but for now, just be passionate. I have a life outside of writing: I am a student, an athlete, an artist, and I work three jobs. I have also been dealing with health issues this year along with a family tragedy that has made my plans for this story more morbid and bad taste. Thank you for your support but I need a break. I hope you folks will understand. 

Thank you,

KMO27


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